For breaking decorum by speaking over his colleagues, Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier’s microphone was temporarily turned off during Tuesday night’s city council meeting.
In response, Montpellier spoke even louder in council chambers, prompting Mayor Brian Bigger to threaten the councillor with expulsion from the meeting.
“I will ask you to leave,” Bigger said, around which time Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini joined Montpellier by speaking out of turn and over his colleagues.
After the meeting wrapped up, Bigger told Sudbury.com that it was his role as meeting chair to ensure respectful decorum was maintained, and that some council members fell short.
“If people don’t follow the rules of decorum, their microphones will be turned off to maintain decorum for the rest of council, for staff spending their evenings at these meetings and the public watching these meetings,” he said.
The trouble started shortly after Montpellier tabled a motion to city council that would direct staff to make a full disclosure on various issues related to the Kingsway Entertainment District and its anchor tenants, the Sudbury Wolves OHL team, and their longevity in Greater Sudbury.
Included in his motion’s preamble was mention of rumours that the team might be sold, which team owner Dario Zulich adamantly refuted in conversation with Sudbury.com last week.
“I’m not certain as to what Montpellier is looking to achieve by presenting this motion,” Ward 8 Coun. Al Sizer said following Montpellier’s introduction to the motion, during which Sizer also questioned the relevance of his emailed correspondence included in the motion’s preamble.
In the preamble, it’s noted that Sizer “has expressed his opinion that sale rumors (sic) exist, in his opinion the team is too lucrative in Sudbury, as a hockey town, and would not likely be moved out of Sudbury.”
“The only reason for this further suggestion the Sudbury Wolves hockey club is for sale and moving is akin to our famous fairy tale ‘Chicken Little,’ with a claim the sky is falling,” Sizer told his colleagues. “Anything to cast doubt on the viability of the KED project.”
This is the point of the meeting at which Montpellier began talking over Sizer, as the mayor attempted to rein the councillor in and enforce decorum.
“Just a reminder, Chicken Little was wrong and the sky wasn’t proven to be falling,” Sizer said after waiting for the cross-talk to die down.
While Sizer was putting the Wolves’ $1-million insurance lawsuit related to COVID-related losses (which was mentioned in Montpellier’s preamble) into context by citing various other teams and businesses that have filed similar claims, Montpellier began talking over him again.
Montpellier, Sizer said, is again “muddying the waters around the KED,” throwing various points out there and “hoping that some of the misinformation will resonate in the community.”
“We have put up with this since 2017,” Sizer added. “I’m tired of playing nice in the sandbox. These are the facts.”
“I resent being called frivolous when I’m asking for information,” Montpellier said, questioning the notion he’s muddying the waters because he was “just asking for information.”
This, despite citing unverified and refuted rumours of an impending Sudbury Wolves hockey franchise sale in the preamble to his motion.
Following a successful motion by Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc to waive reading of the motion, Montpellier described the motion as dead, which Bigger told him is untrue because waiving reading of a motion simply means that it isn’t read out loud. It is still voted on.
“Is this the first time this has ever happened?” Montpellier asked.
He was informed it is a common occurrence.
Ward 1 Coun. Mark Signoretti, Vagnini and Montpellier were the only council members to vote in favour of Montpellier’s motion, at which point it died.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
