Legality of sanctions against Strait Shores councillor questioned
Coun. Andy MacGregor is at centre of a controversy affecting southeastern N.B. municipal council
Two experts in municipal government have a laundry list of concerns with how a councillor in Strait Shores was disciplined.
Coun. Andy MacGregor says the municipal code of conduct is being "weaponized" against him after he introduced a number of transparency motions shortly after being elected in January, including calling for previous financial statements to be posted, requiring a public tender when a municipal asset is sold, and imposing a deadline for posting meeting minutes.
He was sanctioned and then the mayor and two councillors resigned, all blaming MacGregor in their resignation letters and calling him the "town bully," accusing him of harassment and intimidation.
The councillors ended up rescinding their resignations, but a heated council meeting soon after saw residents outraged over the handling of MacGregor's sanctions and calling for all remaining councillors to resign.
But aside from categorically denying the allegations of misconduct, MacGregor said the sanctions are unjust because they differ from those under the Strait Shores council code of conduct and because they were imposed before an investigation is complete.
A constitutional lawyer agrees.
"It's almost like we're into Alice in Wonderland, you know, the sentence is first, then the trial, right? That's just simply not allowed in the current structure," said Lyle Skinner, who grew up near Fredericton but now lives in Ottawa.
"There's a linear process that any type of breach of code of conduct is supposed to follow. And in this case, everything's happening all at the exact same time."
MacGregor was told he could not contact any municipal staff or fellow councillors and is not allowed inside municipal buildings. He also said he has been shut out of his municipal email account.
Those are not listed as approved sanctions under Strait Shores bylaws, which say:
- Council can vote to send a letter of reprimand.
- Request a letter of apology, request a councillor attend training.
- Suspend the mayor or deputy mayor from acting as official council spokesperson.
- Suspend from some or all council committees and bodies.
- Restrict privilege to attend conferences.
- Restrict or suspend pay.
Skinner said MacGregor's punishments are technically sanctions but they effectively result in a suspension.
"If you physically are not permitted to attend council meetings, then yes, there is a de facto suspension in process."
The sanctions are invalid, he said, because "the town at the moment is not following the bylaw that they themselves set out."
The basis of the municipality's authority to use those suspensions is unclear because acting Mayor Annamarie Boyd refused to discuss MacGregor's sanctions and did not respond to a follow-up interview request.
The next council meeting, which was scheduled for April, has been cancelled because the municipality said in a Facebook post that it needs time to move to a new building next door to the current municipal office.
MacGregor is now waiting for the investigation but Boyd has refused to say who is conducting it, when it will be completed, and what it is costing the municipality.
The actions of the Strait Shores council should matter to people across New Brunswick, Skinner said.
"We're talking about the suspension of a democratically elected councillor from the town council," Skinner said. "And so that means that the folks that live in that particular area don't have representation at the level of government that arguably affects them the most."
Sanctions could put municipality in legal bind
Geoff Martin teaches in the department of politics and international relations at Mount Allison University in Sackville and has a research interest in New Brunswick municipal governments.
He said MacGregor's sanctions and how they were imposed could be a legal concern because "for small municipalities, it's very hard to navigate this legally and do it right."
He also pointed out that by banning MacGregor from municipal property, he's being deprived of his rights not only as a councillor but also a citizen.
"They can't even go into the municipal office and, you know, pay their water bill," Martin said.
"These are very serious actions that are injurious to someone's reputation — have they been thought through? So that speaks to how quickly this was done."
The fact that municipal council terms are for four years has made voters less powerful in holding account councillors they feel have misbehaved, Martin said.
"Now, it's lawyers and staff and administrative law process that holds people accountable. And I think that's expensive, often unsatisfying for everyone involved and is a worrying trend."
Martin doesn't doubt that there are issues with councillors whose conduct is unacceptable.
"I have seen these things happen and that needs to be curtailed. But what doesn't need to be curtailed is people's ideas and people who kind of style themselves as reform-oriented."
Martin said MacGregor has a right to introduce as many motions as he'd like to council, even if he likened them to "drinking from a firehose" for other councillors to navigate.
"Leadership is about channeling that in a productive way so that improvements can be made and you can build a consensus rather than immediately starting off on the wrong foot," Martin said.
But instead, the existing councillors are coming "from a defensive perspective as opposed to seeing this as an opportunity to move the municipality forward."
Martin worries about what residents will think watching their tax dollars be used on an investigation.
"I'm just thinking from the perspective of local citizens and taxpayers who are going to think, 'Well, the municipality is going to be preoccupied with this rather than moving the community forward.'"
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