Two members of city council accused of harassing former fire chief Trevor Bain held a news conference Thursday to announce they won't be cooperating with the investigation.
Instead, Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini and Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier said they will go to Tom Davies Square on Jan.15 – the day they are supposed to be interviewed – and will sit in public where anyone can speak with them.
Vagnini said he has booked room at city hall for 2.5 hours that day, while Montpellier said he will take his normal seat at the council table, or will sit outside if provincial court is in session.
The two announced their plans at a bizarre news conference held at the Steelworkers Hall on Brady Street. The event was packed by their supporters, many of whom expressed their support and made disparaging comments about city hall in general.
A few attacked some city managers directly, prompting Vagnini to ask them to stop naming people in their comments. At one point a supporter stood up and said, “this council is after you two guys.”
“Thanks for that,” Vagnini replied.
The investigation dates back to last winter/early spring when Bain, then fire chief, led a series of public meetings on a fire optimization plan that would have equalized response times across the city, but meant hiring more full-time firefighters and reducing the reliance on volunteer firefighters.
Montpellier and Vagnini were particularly critical of the plan, and last March, the union representing career firefighters lodged a complaint against them, saying they had harassed Bain during the optimization review.
Bain was later dismissed as chief.
Montpellier and Vagnini held a similar news conference last month, where they called for the investigation of the complaint to be held in public. But Ontario's workplace harassment law specifically prohibits that.
“Keep the investigation confidential,” says information on the Ministry of Labour's website. “Instruct the worker who allegedly experienced workplace harassment, the alleged harasser and witnesses not to talk to others about the investigation unless it is necessary, for instance, to obtain advice or counselling.”
Also at Thursday's news conference, Vagnini adviser Tom Price said he was asked to be interviewed as part of the investigation Jan.15, as was Lively's Travis Morgan.
Both said they would refuse a closed-door interview as part of the investigation.
Montpellier said any thoughts of keeping everything private went out the window when he found out he was being investigated online.
“So it's not confidential,” Montpellier said, rejecting what he called “closed door stuff.
“I found out about this investigation on the Internet,” he said. “I will not stand still and remain quiet about this.”
While Montpellier confirmed he'll be running for reelection in October, Vagnini said he hadn't made up his mind about running for mayor. But he denied Thursday's event had anything to do with the upcoming vote.
“This has nothing to do with the upcoming election,” he said.
Under harassment laws, if the alleged violation was committed by a supervisor, the company is required to hire an outside firm to investigate to ensure it's unbiased. If found guilty of harassment, remedies include further training, apologizing to the person who was harassed, or “counselling, shift changes, reprimands, suspension, job transfer, or termination.”
For his part, Vagnini said he wasn't sure what would happen when he refuses to cooperate.
“I don't know what the repercussions will be,” he said.
