Two Saint John councillors have been suspended from their committee appointments, and possibly council, pending a code of conduct investigation by the city.
Councillors Brent Harris and Joanna Killen met with members of CUPE Local 486 to discuss their concerns amid the ongoing acrimonious strike, now in its fourth week, and to see why the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement.
A code of conduct complaint was filed against the two, which Harris and Killen said accuses them of several violations, including not maintaining the will of council. They said no promises or information were provided during the conversation, but rather an attempt to hear the other side of the story as it related to the striking workers, which they said changed their opinion on how it was being approached.
“Whether you’re unionized or not, this is important for us to get right,” Harris said in an interview on Wednesday. “I should be allowed as an elected official to hear both sides of the story and I should be able to represent, with my voice, at those votes.”
Harris and Killen said they received notice of the complaint filed against them on Monday, and on Tuesday were stripped of their committees. They were excluded from all votes pertaining to the most recent counteroffer made by the union.
“That has been stripped away without any understanding of how it is possible to do that,” Harris said. “For us to not be invited back to have an honest conversation about 486, who put a counteroffer in, is a subversion of democracy. It’s fine if they think we violated our code of conduct, but that is still under investigation, we haven’t even had an opportunity to respond to the complaint.”
On Tuesday, Mayor Donna Reardon released a statement:
“In light of concerns Saint John City Council has in relation to the behaviour of two of its members and the risk posed to the local government as a result of their behaviour … that, on the recommendation of the Committee of the Whole and pending the outcome of an investigation under the Code of Conduct By-Law, Councillors Killen and Harris be relieved of all their council committee duties and their appointments by Council to different bodies be rescinded, effective immediately.”
It said the resolution “lifts privileges bestowed on Coun. Killen and Harris by council pending the outcome of a code of conduct investigation.”
All elected members of council are subject to LG-5: A Bylaw Respecting the Code of Conduct for Elected Members of Saint John City Council.
Union concerned about punishment
CUPE New Brunswick president Steve Drost said he was a part of the conversation with Killen and Harris. He corroborated Killen and Harris’s claim that no promises or privileged information was provided during the conversation.
“I thought they were extremely respectful and doing what they were duly elected to do,” he said in an interview by telephone. “They wanted to know what the issue was and why these workers were on strike. They wanted to hear it for themselves.”
Drost has been privy to some of the negotiations and the information both sides would have and said the conversation was simply one of understanding why the two sides couldn’t come to a deal.
“Hats off to both of these councillors for wanting to be more informed but what really concerns me are a few things,” he said. “It’s obvious this council … have no regard for the citizens and no regard for these workers. What I find concerning is what’s happening to these two councillors who were doing what they were duly elected to do (and) are now being punished.”
‘Because we didn’t do what the city wanted us to do’
Both Killen and Harris said they never imagined a conversation would lead to this.
“We just feel that this has become a targeted thing against us, because we didn’t do what the city wanted us to do,” Killen said in an interview. “We’re completely on side in discussing this because it shows me that there is a bigger conversation at hand wherein we need to have a lot more accountability and transparency with our politicians.”
The two said they do not have legal counsel yet, but will be in discussion with lawyers in the coming days.
Harris said the whole strike has proven the city doesn’t value the average worker and both he and Killen’s position changed after speaking with the union membership and leadership.
He pointed to the city’s tactics to share the details of their offer online, and to publish wages of CUPE Local 486 members salary, among others.
“It tells the community we don’t value workers here, we’d rather exploit workers. … I’m not saying it’s exploitative. The message comes across like that. … If we’re signalling as a city that we don’t value that, I don’t know how to get anything done.”
Harris said the relationship is repairable, given an apology by council.
In a statement, the City of Saint John stressed to Global News that it is council that decides who it appoints to different boards and committees.
“Council’s decision to rescind the two Councillors’ appointments to Boards and Committees in no way prevents them from representing their constituents at the Council table,” the statement read.
“The two Councillors continue to act in their capacity as elected members of Council.”
The investigation has been referred to an independent third-party investigator.
There is no word on when the investigation could be completed.
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