"Am I happy about the video? No."
That was Mayor Al McDonald's response to initial inquiries about the news making TransCanada Energy East advertisement starring vacationing Fire Chief Grant Love.
McDonald's appeal to TransCanada to remove the controversial video featuring Love has been granted, and now the Mayor wants to get back on message when it comes to the City's opposition to plans to run oil-related products underneath Trout Lake.
Said McDonald Monday, after the video had been removed , "Let's look at the bigger picture. Our position is that we're very concerned about protecting our only source of drinking water. We've taken that stance and we haven't wavered off of that stance."
Asked how he had first become aware of the video's existence, McDonald replied, "When the video appeared, I learned about it from BayToday, that was where I first heard about it. Not many people seemed to know about it, and it didn't seem to be going anywhere. The perception of the video is that, through the fire department, the City are somewhat supportive of Energy East."
The Mayor suggests that this is simply not the case, and, if anything, the need to include Love in a safety video for the pipeline bolsters the City's position."If you really go back and listen to the video, at no time does the Chief take a stance opposite (McDonald stressed the word "opposite") City Council, he never says that he supports Energy East, what he's speaking to specifically is him working with TransCanada on emergency preparedness should there be a leak or an event."
As such, the City's stance that the source of drinking water must be protected is confirmed by the video, according to McDonald.
"TransCanada is a very sophisticated company. They put that video out, and with it, there was the perception that there is support for the pipeline without anyone ever having said it," said McDonald.
The Mayor continued to say that part of the fire chief's responsibilities is to be prepared for any emergency or catastrophe. "The federal government will ultimately make the decision about the pipeline. It is the fire department's job to be prepared if that happens," he said.
"The optics and perceptions are terrible, no question. When it comes to Human Resources issues, I cannot speak to them, and we will maintain the privacy of those involved," said McDonald.
Director of Community Services, Coun. Mark King did not feel that Love's actions would result in serious repercussions, especially because that would bring about potentially high legal fees.
When interviewed Monday, King relayed what he thought would happen to Love: "Nothing."
"He's finished, from the City's perspective at the end of January, so what can we do at this particular point?" asked King, continuing with, "What benefit would be derived by doing something that would be extremely expensive, and in my mind, we're making such a big issue of this, it's actually working against us, as it's brought all sorts of notoriety to the issue."
"I think publicly most people have indicated their disappointment," in Love's actions, said King, "It really shows the difficult spot that Council's been placed in because a senior staff member has overstepped his boundaries."
The Green Party's Nicole Peltier went public Monday with her desire for answers to questions surrounding the Love video.
Love had been in the news recently on another front when it was revealed that the City was paying two employees to do the same job while Love took six months of accrued vacation time to close his career.
In late September, when the Energy East Pipeline - Committed to Safety video featuring Love was released, there were murmurs about how out of place the Chief's involvement was, considering he was still a paid City employee.
BayToday broke the story, and the original article containing background information on the Energy East controversy can be seen in its entirety here.
The video contains images of Love in his full North Bay Fire Chief's uniform, with clearly-marked North Bay Fire & Emergency Services vehicles used throughout. The advertisement was filmed predominantly outside of Fire Station One, which is the property of the City.
It has also recently come to light that an on-duty firefighter was given a direct order to participate in the Love video, and signed a release to allow online distribution.
Furthermore, Energy East promotional videos with appearances from other northern fire chiefs have been discovered online.
The prevailing message of the commercial is that the pipeline has a superb safety record, and Love concurs. The entire video was shot in such a way, with City logos and emblems at the forefront, that one would think that the City itself was endorsing the pipeline.
