Councillor threatens Mayor, Whitby with libel lawsuit amid ethics investigations

A Whitby town councillor embroiled in controversy has threatened the Mayor and the town itself with a libel lawsuit after they made several statements regarding his behaviour in council meetings which he said were “assailing my character and besmirching my professional reputation.”

The statements followed the interruption of the Oct. 7 town council meeting during a discussion of the appointment of the new Deputy Mayor. Previously, the role rotated through the town’s regional councillors, but council updated the procedure late last summer to a mayoral appointment requiring council’s consent.

Mayor Elizabeth Roy tapped Councillor Niki Lunquist to fill the position. During the debate, Councillor Christopher Leahy made several comments against Lundquist’s appointment.

Later he spoke to accuse council of treating his longtime ally Councillor Steve Yamada poorly during his tenure in the role, which he attributed to anti-Asian racism among councillors.

Yamada was the last councillor to serve as deputy mayor and resigned prior to the appointment changes. Roy later wrote his resignation “had nothing to do with racism, and everything to do with a long pattern of unacceptable conduct by Regional Councillor Yamada both within and outside of Council.”

Yamada himself was silent but later released a statement agreeing with Leahy’s allegation. Others later criticized Leahy for undercutting more genuine concerns regarding anti-Asian racism.

A few days later, Yamada, who is running as a Conservative for Whitby’s federal seat in the next election, was ejected from a Durham Regional meeting after hijacking a food bank support discussion to lambaste the federal carbon tax. 

Roy as meeting chair would not tolerate such accusations and interrupted Leahy to demand an apology. When Leahy repeatedly refused and refused to leave the chamber council voted for a 15-minute recess. Calling a recess when tempers flare is standard procedure to allow councillors the chance to regain their composure.

During this break, Roy and all councillors save Leahy and Yamada gathered in an office space adjacent to the chamber. During this gathering, council discussed what to do about the situation with Leahy.

Leahy himself later described this as a “secret meeting” which would have been illegal under the Municipal Act. However, the town later brought in law firm Aird and Berlis to conduct a “thorough and impartial” review of the gathering which found no wrongdoing as no votes were held and no council business was materially advanced.

Despite this finding, Aird and Berlis recommended council never again hold such impromptu gatherings out of public view to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

When the meeting resumed after the recess, Leahy was again asked to apologize or leave. He refused to do both three times and the meeting was adjourned. It reconvened a couple of days later to finish the business council didn’t get to.

After the meeting, Roy and the town posted an open letter on Whitby’s website in which Roy said “making these very serious and unfounded accusations goes against our Council Code of Conduct. Which is why I was so shocked that a member of council would insinuate that race has anything to do with making decisions around the council table regarding the appointment of Deputy Mayor.”

Chief Administration Officer Matt Gaskell also released a statement clarifying what transpired. Roy later elaborated, “I am deeply alarmed that a councillor would make such an egregious allegation against myself, fellow councillors and members of Town staff, without any evidence in support.”

“The issue at hand, which Councillor Leahy is attempting to distract from, is his completely inappropriate accusations and behaviour, which undermine the public’s trust in local government.”

Leahy took issue with these and other comments regarding his behaviour. After the December council meeting, in which the Aird and Berlis report was discussed, he confirmed to Insauga that he’d had a lawyer draw up a letter demanding the removal of Roy’s and the town’s statements from the website.

“I am hoping that the mayor and the bureaucrats who advise her understand that you shouldn’t lambaste anyone who is exercising their rights under the law. In Canada when you see something you should say something to the appropriate authorities,” Leahy said.

“My lawyer wrote a letter threatening legal action if the offending statements weren’t removed,” he concluded, “Given the ruling, I expect the town to remove the odious comments. Once that is done, I would consider the matter settled. I feel vindicated I’m dropping my lawsuit.”

However, Gaskell said, “The Town does not intend to remove Mayor Roy’s open letter to Whitby Residents of October 10, 2024 from the Town’s website.”

Additionally, Leahy said he was set to bring a motion forward to cancel the town’s contract with Local Authority Services Limited, and therefore Aird and Berlis, for investigations. Per Leahy, Whitby’s had a contract with Local Authority Services for internal investigations since 2008.

This contract ranges in legal fees from $495 to $875 per hour, Leahy asserted. He argued Whitby should rely on the Ontario government for free oversight instead. As Leahy has yet to forward this motion Roy said, “It would be premature for me to comment.”