'One of the blackest days of council'

In a major, and unprecedented shakeup in the council chambers, Councillor Rick Dubeau has been stripped of much of his influence around the municipality for the remainder of this council's term in power.

He will be removed from his turns as Deputy Mayor, as well as from all boards and committees, as well as from the Downtown Timmins BIA board.

Mayor Steve Black placed the item on Monday's council agenda to address what he felt were 'unacceptable' remarks made by Dubeau at last week's meeting. Dubeau charged that council was purposely misled by members of city staff concerning 'Phase 1' of the city's 10-year connecting link project.

"I request an apology for those comments that were made in the public forum," said Black.

Dubeau, through a point of order, asked bluntly what was Black was going to ask of council.

"This resolution is at the Special Meeting regarding the composition of our committees, if you don't apologize," replied Black.

Dubeau noted that the resolution wasn't included in the council package, but did make note of a letter Black sent out earlier.

"It was a three-page letter, and you accuse me of a lot of things, using very strong language," said Dubeau.

"I don't think you have this authority, I think this is ridiculous. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression. Freedom of speech is the liberty to speak openly without fear of government restraint. It is one of the major cornerstones of our democracy," said Dubeau.

"To try and silence and censor a Councillor, is ridiculous."

Dubeau stood by his statement, and said that he put it forward in a 'respectful manner'.

"We've had many passionate debates at council. Voices have been raised. Tables have been pounded. That's the sign of a strong council, willing to passionately debate the issues that concern the city and our taxpayers. We must be able to have strong, serious, and informed debates, otherwise we are just uninformed followers of one person's agenda," he said.

Dubeau said it was not Black's place to publicly shame him into apologizing by ultimatum.

"Quite simply Mayor Black, you're not my boss. You do not, and can not censor any member of council. You and I are sometimes on the opposite sides of issues. I often would agree with some of the things you say, and how long it takes you to say them. In my opinion, you're often patronizing, petulant, and demeaning."

He said that although he often questions Black's choice of words and conduct, he has never pushed for him to be reprimanded or censored.

"That one comment went too far, in my opinion, and that's what I'm asking you to apologize for," said Black, adding that Dubeau's comments were having a significant impact on day-to-day operations.

"I still believe everything I said that night is true, and no I'm not apologizing" said Dubeau.

Councillor Pat Bamford said he was becoming very concerned for morale, and said he could empathize with city staff for being insulted by Dubeau's remarks.

"This is a sad time, for me to be talking like this. I don't like this process," he said.

Councillor Joe Campbell made it clear he didn't approve of Mayor Black's resolution.

"When I received this letter from you, I had one word. Wow."

"This is a threat, okay, and this is so far out of touch with what has occurred. This threat to remove one of the hardest working Councillors around this table, from all boards? We are going down a slippery slope," said Campbell, tossing down Black's letter, calling it 'ridiculous'.

This elicited a boisterous round of applause from former city councillor, mayoral candidate, and federal election candidate Todd Lever who was sitting in the back row of the chambers. After shouting out some of his unsolicited input, Black stepped in to curb his enthusiasm.

"I'll ask the audience members to keep quiet as well, per our code of conduct. You can run again in the next election," said Black.

Councillor Noella Rinaldo said it was important to distinguish between a politician and a city employee, as they do not have the opportunity to debate like Councillors do.

Councillor Andrew Marks read out a letter written by City Clerk Steph Palmateer, which he said he took to heart, as he felt a good worker's integrity was called into question.

"I'm appalled and quite insulted that anyone on council would think that I, in any way, attempted to deceive or otherwise fool council," Marks read from the letter.

He said some of council's recent behaviour has not gone unnoticed by the public.

Councillor Rick Dubeau gets up out of his chair and officially leaves the proceedings. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday

"We are quite frankly a laughingstock in this community. We all know it, and we've all heard it" said Marks, adding that he fully supported removing Dubeau's seat on the committees.

"Quite frankly, I have very little faith going forward in trusting this Councillor, as we can cite other instances," said Marks.

Councillor Mike Doody said sometimes things are said in the heat of the moment, that should be apologized for.

"Let's move on. We've got big issues to tackle. Big issues," he said.

Dubeau then opted to 'leave' the meeting, but did stick around city hall to listen, and did not participate in the vote.

Councillors Doody, Bamford, Grzela, Marks, Rinaldo, and Mayor Black voted in favor. Councillors Campbell and Wawrzaszek were opposed.

Campbell later remarked that it was 'one of the blackest days of this council'.