It was a tumultuous city council meeting as the latest integrity commissioner’s report on Councillor Jim Handley’s conduct hit the floor.
After an almost hour-long discussion — that saw Handley threaten legal action — councillors decided to defer a decision on the report's recommendations to a later date.
As ThoroldToday reported, Councillor Handley is under fire for his participation in the 2022 Ottawa Trucker Convoy Protest.
The integrity commissioner has found that Handley contravened the city’s code of conduct, that requires “members of Council to refrain from making statements known to be false or with the intent to mislead Council or the public, and to recognize that they are representatives of the City and that they owe a duty of loyalty to the residents of the City at all times.”
“In all respects, the Councillor ought to have known that his promotion of an illegal activity was not consistent with his duty of loyalty to the City, which requires him to at least be viewed as upholding the spirit and the letter of the law, consistent with the Code,” reads the report, written by integrity commissioner Daria Peregoudova.
As a result, Peregoudova recommends “that Council denounce the actions of the Councillor by way of a formal reprimand and impose a suspension of his remuneration as a member of Council equal to ninety (90) days.”
During last night's city council meeting, Peregoudova was joined by fellow integrity commissioner John Mascarin to give a presentation on their findings.
This is the third time in three years that the integrity commissioner has received a complaint about Councillor Handley’s conduct, and Peregoudova said that “the pattern of conduct is very consistent with past findings and violations and past reports that we have presented before council.”
Mascarin also addressed Councillor Handley’s repeated claims that the findings in the report violate his Charter rights.
“We did look at his ability to politically make statements that he would like to make,” Mascarin told council members. “We looked at that through the Charter right to protect the freedom of expression of everybody in the entire country and yet we found there were still code violations.”
The city is currently seeking an external legal opinion to determine whether or not the city’s code of conduct contravenes one's Charter rights, after a motion made by Handley during a Feb. 28 city council meeting. That legal opinion is set to be discussed at the next council meeting.
Councillor Handley — wearing a Canadian flag tie — took the stage last night to give a rambling defense.
In his speech, Handley claimed that he is under fire for handing out money at the Ottawa convoy protest, when the integrity commissioner’s report actually exonerates him of this allegation.
Handley also said that the commissioner’s report was “nothing but vindictiveness” because of his re-election, when the complaint was filed before the election on August 3, 2022.
“I have come to a point where I believe I have no other choice probably than to solicit legal representation myself,” he said. “I believe my rights are being abused and that the city’s policy does not stand for democracy.”
Councillor Handley also claimed that Mascarin is “named within a lawsuit, where a person feels that he has abused those [Charter] rights and it is before the courts yet to be decided.”
What Handley is referring to is the attempt by former West Lincoln Councillor Harold Jonker to sue his municipality over sanctions from an integrity commissioner’s report, drafted up by Mascarin.
Over the weekend, Councillor Handley contacted other Thorold council members to tell them about the case to discredit the investigation into his misconduct, and this did not sit well with Mascarin.
“Councillor Handley has indicated that he never knowingly makes false or misleading statements,” Mascarin said. “He just made one. He made it to all of council over the weekend in a non-transparent way. He indicated very clearly that we are subject to a lawsuit. That is absolutely false. I will not stand for this. This is completely inappropriate for him to continue to bring this up when he knows full well the matter has been over and dealt with and concluded. We are not a party to that litigation and there is no wrongdoing that we are subject to.”
After a tense back-and-forth between Handley and Mascarin, Mayor Terry Ugulini slammed his gavel to try and cool things down.
“We’re not getting into a whole debate on something that wasn’t in the findings,” Mayor Ugulini said. “It’s over. Let’s get back on track here.”
“If council wants to suspend my pay today, this council will not be moving forward in a positive manner,” Councillor Handley threatened. “I will not let this stand. I will and I’m going to defend my rights and the time will be upon us soon.”
Councillor Anthony Longo said he found the whole integrity process underwhelming.
“There’s somebody out there who can throw darts at us,” he said. “This process is unfair. This process allows someone to be sitting at home on their couch tonight smiling because they know they’re putting everybody in a bad position tonight. They want me to impose a sentence on somebody I need to work with? How fair is that?”
Councillor Longo said that he felt that the people of Thorold had already spoken on the issue by voting Handley back into office in September.
“It sounds like he’s threatening to sue somebody,” Councillor Longo continued. “Do I want to get sued because I’m taking his pay away? I don’t think so. Is he going to sue me if I vote against him? Potentially.”
Councillor Longo tried to move the discussion behind closed doors, but Councillor Tim O’Hare proposed deferring any further discussion to the next council meeting instead: “Seeing as we’re going to be discussing the constitutional lawyer’s opinion” on whether or not the city’s code of conduct violates one’s charter rights.
The motion for deferral was unanimously approved by all councillors. Afterwards, Handley excused himself from the remainder of the council meeting.
“I need to gather my thoughts and I have some conversations I need to take care of," he said.
