Windsor mayor 'not worried' about complaint filed to city's integrity commissioner

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told reporters Monday evening he's "not worried" about a complaint filed to the city's integrity commissioner concerning remarks made at a media event earlier this year.

The complaint was filed by city resident Dee Sweet last Friday, who cited comments Dilkens made in reference to local business improvement associations (BIAs) during a May 17 media event. 

During the conference, Dilkens was critical of BIAs, as well as councillors who stood in opposition to construction of a mega-hospital on County Road 42.

At the time, Dilkens warned that BIA budgets may be reduced or pulled outright if those groups used funds to oppose the construction of the mega-hospital.

Sweet felt that "our elected mayor was misleading by making the [Local Planning Appeal Tribunal] political and by blaming [Citizens for an Accountable Mega-hospital Planning Process]," a group more commonly referred to by the acronym, CAMPP.

"He accused sitting councillors of things without evidence," Sweet told CBC News. "He accused BIAs of being in contravention of the [Ontario Medical Association], and they weren't — not until council put them there."

Sweet added she was also upset by Dilkens' May 27 choice to defer a decision on BIA budgets until a June 3 meeting.

"It was specifically about the powers of our BIAs and he deferred it," said Sweet. "All of a sudden … he decided he needed to think about it."

Sweet said she reached out to the mayor's office to express her disapproval twice, but was ultimately directed to file a complaint with the city's integrity commissioner. 

"His response was to send [a] link to the integrity commissioner, so I used the link," said Sweet. 

Though Sweet spoke with CBC News about the nature of her filing, she clarified that she was unable to directly address specific comments made in her complaint. 

Sweet added she's been contacted by the integrity commissioner's office, which confirmed her complaint had been received.

According to her, the commissioner advised against speaking publicly about her complaint. 

Sweet explained she hopes her complaint will lead to Dilkens openly discussing "what's happening at that property that the city wants to rezone 400 hectares for a hospital."

"I want the conversation to become about the rezoning and not the hospital, because I think you can find many Windsorites that live in communities in areas where they want their money invested there," said Sweet. 

She also wants "somebody to whisper in his ear, 'Hey, you were out of line on the 17th."

"You can't accuse councillors without evidence," said Sweet.

Mayor acknowledges complaint

Dilkens addressed Sweet's integrity filing during a scrum following Windsor city council's July 8 meeting.

The mayor acknowledged he hadn't actually seen Sweet's complaint, but he did confirm that he directed Sweet to the integrity commissioner following back-and-forth emails.

"I don't shy away from the integrity commissioner complaint process, I never have," said Dilkens. "I look forward to the report from the integrity commissioner."

Dilkens said he doesn't have any regrets about his previous comments, adding "if I could say it all again, I'd do the exact same thing."

"In due course, I would expect the integrity commissioner would, ask me for a comment or review the material that she's alleging that there's a violation of and have a conversation with me and then make his determination," said Dilkens.

"I'm not worried about it at all."