CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Charlottetown Coun. Bob Doiron calls it a “railroad job’’ just to shut him up.
The Ward 6 councillor was found guilty of violating the city’s code of conduct during a special meeting of council on Monday.
According to the public resolution, which passed 6-0, a complaint pursuant to the city’s code of conduct bylaw and the city’s harassment in the workplace policy was received regarding Doiron’s conduct. The city hired a third-party investigator to conduct an independent investigation into the complaint. It found that Doiron was in breach of the bylaw and policy.
The penalties levied against him are harsh.
He will forfeit 90 days of council pay, which amounts to about $10,000. That’s the maximum permitted under the bylaw. Doiron will also be required to apologize to city council and to Peter Kelly, the city’s chief administrative officer, orally and in writing. And, the councillor will have to undergo training with regard to a councillor’s obligations pursuant to the code of conduct bylaw and the city’s harassment in the workplace policy.
“This is a severe penalty. That shocks me,’’ Doiron told The Guardian following the council vote.
“I guess it’s up to me to phone my lawyer and see what can be done about this. I (always) felt that if I crossed the line, someone would tell me. We have a lawyer right in the chamber and if he felt I was doing something wrong then someone should have told me. No one from the city has contacted me about this.’’
Councillors Terry MacLeod, Alanna Jankov, Terry Bernard, Mike Duffy and Kevin Ramsay voted in favour of the resolution on Monday. The investigator, an off-Island firm, gave council a heads up as to what the investigation had found during a private meeting on March 7. Councillors Jason Coady, Mitchell Tweel, Doiron and Greg Rivard were absent from the meeting, but Rivard said Monday he and Coady had to miss the meeting because they were in Moncton attending their daughters’ ringette tournament. Those who missed the March 7 meeting were not permitted to vote on the resolution on Monday.
“I need to say that I am uncomfortable with the severity of the penalty,’’ McCabe, chairwoman of the human resources committee, said just before the vote.
“Unfortunately, our new code of conduct does not offer a lot of options. There has been a breach, therefore, I have to vote on this resolution and my answer is yay.’’
“It’s not real pleasant to have to do this but it is what it is,’’ said Bernard.
The city refused to be specific on exactly what Doiron did wrong. The report is said to contain more than a dozen violations of the code of conduct and harassment policy. It should be noted that Doiron seconded a motion to pass the code of conduct in 2018 while he also voted in favour of the harassment policy.
“The matter which led to this resolution of council pertains to a confidential personnel matter and, as such, the policy of council is to not discuss such matters in public,’’ said John Mooy, manager of human resources.
“Therefore, I will have no comments to add.’’
However, The Guardian has learned that it wasn’t one issue or one rant during a council meeting that got Doiron into hot water, it was a series of issues, including his behavior in meetings sometimes.
Doiron accused Kelly of operating in a “rogue’’ fashion at one point and he accused the city and Kelly of spending close to $1 million on asphalt paving without council’s approval in 2018-19 (both the current chairman of public works and former chairman have maintained the city did not overspend). Doiron also gave an interview to media in Halifax in which he accused Kelly of approving cost overruns of $500,000 related to water and sewer work, without bringing that expenditure back to council; and that Kelly approved a no-bid contract to a Halifax company for studying parking issues in Charlottetown.
Various councillors have told The Guardian over the past few months that, unlike MLAs in the legislature, they are not protected behind the rail. Thus, they can't say whatever they want without consequences.
Between the investigation, which began just before Christmas, and legal fees, this process will cost the city about $26,000.
