Kingston city council penalizes Sydenham district councillor over allegations, complaints

Kingston city council voted Tuesday to dock Sydenham district councillor Peter Stroud one month’s pay.

Thirteen councillors, excluding Stroud, voted 10-2 in favour of a recommended penalty from an integrity commissioner.

Jefferey Abrams of Principles Integrity was hired by council in the fall to complete a report after receiving several complaints about Stroud’s conduct.

The complaints stem from an incident in which the councillor allegedly delayed a Kingston Transit bus for nearly 10 minutes in 2019, along with some negative comments he made about Kingston police on social media, which Abrams said could be seen as breaches of the councillors’ code of conduct.

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Mayor Bryan Paterson echoed Abram’s recommendation Tuesday night.

“We can all agree that the code of conduct was broken,” Paterson told council, before adding, “What message are we sending to the community if we don’t act.”

Global News attempted to speak with Stroud after the vote but he declined to comment.

2:02 Integrity commissioner suggests Kingston council dock Stroud’s pay following bus incident