Political scientist says CBRM mishandled harassment complaint against councillors

A Cape Breton University political scientist says a harassment investigation sparked by the regional municipality's fire chief was mishandled and the chief's subsequent resignation exposed clear signs of dysfunction at city hall in Sydney, N.S.

Cape Breton Regional Municipality fire chief Michael Seth launched a harassment complaint in 2022 over comments councillors made in an email thread regarding changes to Canada Day promotions.

Seth, who is Mohawk from Ontario, said he was upset with the way some councillors insisted on celebrating Canada Day, despite the country's legacy of Indigenous treatment at residential schools.

Four CBRM councillors were found to have breached the municipal harassment policy last year, but that only came to light after Seth resigned last week.

Tom Urbaniak,a professor of political science, said CBRM's harassment policy is weak and the complaint might have been handled better under the council code of conduct. 

That way, the results would not have been kept under wraps.

"This is not a personnel issue, where often you would have sort of an in-camera discussion," he said. "This involved elected officials and so the public has a right to a fuller explanation."

Urbaniak said the harassment policy does include the possibility of a staff complaint about councillors, but the consequences seem aimed more at employees rather than politicians.

Under the harassment policy, CBRM's chief administrative officer (CAO) hired a Halifax lawyer to conduct an independent investigation into Seth's complaint.

Several councillors consulted lawyers and were not happy with the results of the investigation, which did not result in any sanctions.

The harassment policy calls for disciplinary measures up to and including termination of employment, but as Urbaniak said, councillors are not employees.

Urbaniak said the policy also allows for an informal dispute resolution, which would have led to an adult discussion about staff and council relations without the need for lawyers.

"I'm sad that within the CBRM, within city hall, within this community of ours, that such a conversation couldn't happen and that it came to these very legalistic processes, which in the end did no good for anyone," he said.

"The CAO, in my opinion, could have handled this better. It should not have come to this."

Rift between councillors and staff

The process did identify a rift between CBRM councillors and staff, Urbaniak said.

"After having read the investigator's report, it's very clear that the relationship between staff and council is generally poor, that there is a high level of dysfunction at city hall," he said.

In the email thread from June 2022, several councillors weighed in on whether staff had the right to change the direction of Canada Day events without a decision of council.

Seth said he was upset that councillors didn't understand how their words indicated a lack of sensitivity toward Indigenous feelings, but Urbaniak said that also showed CBRM councillors and staff do not have a clear understanding of each other's roles.

'Legitimate for council to be involved'

He said councillors are required to weigh in on political questions and give direction to staff through the CAO.

"Their bread and butter is often controversy," Urbaniak said. "It's different for staff and in the roles that they're supposed to perform."

When it came to the question of how to mark Canada Day, "there are political implications there, so it's absolutely legitimate for council to be involved in those conversations," he said.

Mayor Amanda McDougall said she just wants CBRM to hire a new fire chief and move on.

"There's no hiding that there's been some contention between some members of council," she said.

"It's been said publicly and my hope is that we just move forward and fill that position and continue the important work that is being done to protect our community residents."

The mayor would not say whether the fire chief's complaint should have been dealt with under the council code of conduct, saying it was not up to her.

"I wasn't involved in the investigation that took place, so any comments and questions you have about that investigation would be best directed to those who were involved," McDougall said.

Cultural sensitivity training offered

The harassment investigation report recommended council take cultural sensitivity training, but at least two of the four who were found to have breached the harassment policy have not taken it, saying they did not need it because they did nothing wrong.

McDougall said she can't force anyone to take the training.

"The opportunity to participate has been made numerous times," she said. "It's up to individuals to actually embrace that."

The mayor also said despite the resignation earlier this year of the mayor's L'nu adviser and now the fire chief, CBRM does not have a problem with Indigenous relations. 

The municipality has held exercises on the impact of colonization and this week, proclaimed its support for National Truth and Reconciliation Day Sept. 30 and Mi'kmaq History Month in October, she said.

"There's been great effort put into things like blanket exercises ... [and] the proclamation that you heard today. That work is ongoing. I think what you're talking about are interpersonal issues."

Deputy fire chief Chris March has been named acting chief and CBRM is now looking for a permanent replacement.