BARRIE - Simcoe County Deputy Warden and Springwater Township Mayor Jennifer Coughlin didn’t want to spend Friday afternoon sitting on her porch spilling her guts to a reporter about what happened at a county council meeting last month.
She had initiated the internal process to deal with an incident involving Oro-Medonte Mayor and county Coun. Randy Greenlaw and she was willing to let that process run its due course.
Thursday night, however, a lengthy, anonymous email that spoke to the alleged incident between Greenlaw and Coughlin was sent to most members of Simcoe County council, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and numerous regional media outlets. The email included a direct reference to the specific comment Greenlaw was alleged to have said, leading Coughlin to speak out in an exclusive interview with BarrieToday.
She said the incident happened on Feb. 25, when county council was getting ready for the flag-raising ceremony for ITSTARTS Month.
“I went back to (the council) chamber to request that the other members come to the flagpole,” Coughlin said. “When I suggested to Mayor Greenlaw and (Oro-Medonte) Deputy (Mayor) Peter Lavoie that we needed to be out there, Mayor Greenlaw asked me if I was going to dance on that pole for them?
“I told Mayor Greenlaw, ‘I’m going to walk away from that,’ and I left the chamber and did not participate in the photo,” she added.
She said she immediately went to the office of the warden and the county’s chief administrative officer, a place where said she was “safe and supported.”
In a statement, Simcoe County Warden Basil Clarke said he was aware of the incident, but was not present when it happened.
“The county does not condone incidents that do not represent the values of our corporation, nor do I as warden,” he said. “While the county has stringent corporate policies in place to support and protect our staff, the actions of county councillors are governed by a council code of conduct.
“When matters can’t be resolved internally, code of conduct complaints are investigated by an independent integrity commissioner as part of a formal process, where appropriate outcomes would be recommended,” he added.
BarrieToday reached out numerous times to both Greenlaw and Lavoie for comment. Neither responded.
Coughlin said she later called Greenlaw and asked him to make a public apology as she had a responsibility to hold him accountable for what he said, not just as deputy warden of the county but also for herself and her daughters.
“He said he would need some time to think about it,” Coughlin said.
She said she met with him in person after that phone conversation and he agreed to provide a vague apology, at her suggestion.
“I told him he did not have to say who it was to or what he said but that he needed to apologize to that member and the house for his indiscretion,” she said. “He made the comment on the county floor and I felt it was appropriate that he make the apology on the county floor.”
Coughlin said Greenlaw was supposed to make the public apology at the March 11 county council meeting.
At that meeting, which BarrieToday attended, Greenlaw did not make a public apology.
It’s been suggested he may have apologized during the closed session of that council meeting, but it can’t be confirmed because councillors are forbidden from discussing closed-session topics in public.
“As I have respect for my oath of office, I cannot speak to what happened in closed,” Coughlin said.
She has filed a complaint with the county’s integrity commissioner and another complaint with the Ontario ombudsman.
“I have never gone to the integrity commissioner because of a comment that’s been made about me,” she said. “I took this comment as disrespectful. Others have seen it as harassment or sexual harassment.
“To me, to hear another colleague speak to me that way, it was disrespectful. I worked very hard to earn the position on county council as deputy warden, and it was very hurtful.”
The integrity commissioner deals with the ethics or integrity of members of council, while the Ontario ombudsman deals with closed-meeting investigations to determine if what happens in closed qualifies for closed session.
While she understands the intention of the anonymous email writer — wanting to do something that was right — she also feels the email undermined the process she wanted to follow.
“This is mine and I chose a path that I felt was the right path on the high road,” she said. “I have confidence in the systems that are before us, and it’s really unfortunate that that anonymous email has undermined my choice and questioned my integrity.”
She said the next steps are up to Greenlaw.
“I gave him the platform. I gave him the vague attempt at an apology and he didn’t take it,” she said.
“It’s up to him now.”
