Councillor's daycare confrontation amounted to 'bullying and intimidation': report

An Ottawa city councillor who got into a heated, at-times vulgar confrontation with staff at a childcare facility next to his ward office violated council's code of conduct and should be reprimanded, the city's integrity commissioner says.

However, West Carleton-March Coun. Clarke Kelly's behaviour during the July 2024 dispute over the noise the facility's kids were making does not merit a suspension of his pay, according to the report by integrity commissioner Karen Shepherd.

The dispute between Kelly and staff at the West Carleton Kids Korner Daycare broke out on the morning of July 3, while Kelly was virtually attending a meeting of the city's planning and housing committee.

According to Shepherd's report, a group of preschoolers who'd been playing outside were being led back to the daycare, along the cement walkway outside Kelly's windows.

Kelly got frustrated that the kids were banging their hands on the windows, Shepherd wrote, and also that an older child was striking a metal post with a lacrosse stick.

The councillor gestured at a daycare worker through the window to get the kids to move, but when that didn't happen, he left his office and confronted the worker directly, the report said.

According to another daycare employee, Kelly's demeanour was "aggressive and combative" although not profane, Shepherd wrote.

But afterward, Kelly allegedly returned to his office and used "loud, inappropriate language to his staff concerning the daycare worker and the noise of the children," Shepherd added.

Another daycare worker said she could hear Kelly "speaking angrily and swearing" inside his office and that she was "surprised at the number of 'F' bombs that were being used," the report said.

Confronted daycare owner

Shortly before 11 a.m., Kelly left his office and directly confronted the owner of the daycare.

What ensued was a short but profanity-laced diatribe, the report notes, with one witness reporting that Kelly used phrases like "this is f--king ridiculous," "your staff can't control these f--king kids," and "the daycare has got to go."

Another witness couldn't recall specific phrases but said she heard "lots of F-bombs" and that Kelly was both aggressive and angry, according to the report.

Once Kelly left, the daycare owner called police, who showed up and seemed "mostly concerned with ensuring that the two parties avoided any further interactions," Shepherd wrote.

No charges ended up being laid.

A lack of 'integrity and accountability'

In the aftermath of the confrontation, both Kelly and West Carleton Kids Korner Daycare issued public statements about what allegedly took place that day.

The daycare accused Kelly of yelling profanities at staff in a room where "a small summer camp group was doing crafts" and "using language and names toward staff and children."

Kelly, meanwhile, accused the daycare of misrepresenting what happened — although he expressed regret for using profanities when speaking with program supervisor Karen Bolton.

In his response to the complaints, Kelly told Shepherd's team that his office had addressed noise-related issues with the daycare and its summer camp before the July 3 incident.

Kelly also described "a series of professional and personal challenges" that influenced his behaviour that day, Shepherd wrote, although he added that did not excuse his use of bad language and that he "intended to learn from his mistake."

Ultimately, Shepherd found Kelly breached two sections of the city's code of conduct, with his actions amounting "to bullying and intimidation" and falling short of his obligation "to perform his duties with integrity and accountability."

She also noted that although he hadn't directly apologized, Kelly did show remorse and acknowledged his conduct "fell below the standard expected of him."

Given those factors — along with the fact Kelly was relatively new to council and had no previous investigations into his behaviour — Shepherd felt a formal reprimand by council was the best way forward.

"This is the first report respecting Councillor Kelly's conduct and he fully co-operated with the inquiry," she wrote. "For these reasons, I am of the view that a suspension of pay is not necessary as a measure of deterrence."