Nanaimo Mayor Bill McKay is calling for an investigation after his 2015 email to a mediator, characterizing some councillors as mentally ill and bullies, was leaked and presented to council on Monday night.
At least two councillors are threatening legal action over McKay’s written comments.
Another is demanding an apology.
“I’m absolutely shocked and appalled this would be leaked,” McKay said.
“I want a full third-party investigation done by the City of Nanaimo to find out how it got out of the care and custody of the City of Nanaimo and I’m filing a complaint with the [B.C.] privacy commissioner.”
The “council facilitation process” email was dated March 31, 2015, four months after council members were sworn in.
Copies were given to council on Monday by Tim McGrath, a longtime council watcher, who said he found the letter on the windshield of his truck.
McKay’s assessments of councillors include calling one a “bully,” one “mentally ill,” and a third “a follower.” He says another councillor’s thoughts are sprinkled with “anger, hate and contempt.”
Councillors Gord Fuller and Jim Kipp said during Monday’s meeting that they planned to get legal advice.
Fuller said the comments sent chills through his body.
“I am aghast at this. I’m going to take it to a lawyer. I’m going to get him to see it and I’m going to find out if there is any recourse that I might have,” Fuller said.
“These comments are so derogatory, so inflamed. … Here’s your dysfunction right here,” Kipp told the mayor, adding that the comments “go past an apology.”
“This is going to my lawyer. You’re going to pay a heavy price for this one. The public needs an unbelievable apology and I would suggest you probably should step down,” Kipp said.
Coun. Bill Yoachim called the mayor’s comments about him “heartwrenching and not accurate.”
“Minimally, we’d expect an apology and I’m really saddened,” Yoachim said.
Coun. Diane Brennan supported the call for an investigation into the “serious breach of confidentiality.”
McKay said no other councillors’ conversations or emails with the mediator, Heather MacKenzie, were leaked.
He was asked to provide MacKenzie with information about council, and he complied, McKay said.
He said he doesn’t regret making the comments because “it was a confidential initiative” and anything any councillor said to MacKenzie was private. “I’m shocked and appalled that my testimony to Ms. MacKenzie has been shared in this public way.”
Only a handful of people had access to the correspondence, he said.
McGrath said that once he discovered the email, he believed he had an obligation to present it to councillors.
“I figured I should turn it over to the authorities,” he said, adding that the email goes against McKay’s claims that he’s not responsible for the chaos at city hall and is the victim of critics trying to discredit him.
• LINK TO VIDEO: A video of the Nov. 21 council meeting in question is online at nanaimo.ca
