Jones raises questions about alleged misconduct in Legislature

July 17, 2014 · 0 Comments

Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones last week questioned Attorney General Madeline Meilleur on why a Peel assistant crown attorney received double his annual pay in one year; despite the fact that there was a formal complaint lodged against him regarding his conduct around women in the workplace.
“There was a formal complaint lodged against one of your assistant crown attorneys concerning his conduct against women in the Peel crown’s office,” Jones charged in her question. “According to the sunshine list, this same crown attorney walked away with $368,000 in 2013 — twice his annual salary.”
She asked if a full investigation was held on those allegations.
Meilleur, responding to Jones, agreed the matter was “very important.”
“We have a policy within the government, within our ministry, to make sure that these things are not happening,” the Minister said. “I can assure the member of the opposition that all of these accusations are dealt with within the ministry on a fair and reasonable basis.
“But I want to reiterate the fact that we have a policy in place in this government to make sure that this does not happen and that when it does happen, proper measures are taken to make sure that it does not happen again,” she added.
Jones wondered if the victim in the case would think the handling was “fair and equitable if you doubled the salary and pay of this person.”
“In the same week you’re promoting your new accountability and transparency legislation in Ontario, the public has the right to know why an assistant crown in your ministry was given $368,000, twice his annual salary,” Jones added, also pointed out there is information that this same person has been charged with criminal harassment and assault against two young women.
Meilleur replied by stressing the government has procedures in place to make sure these things don’t happen. “With regard to how much was paid to this individual, this was dealt with the same way that these cases were dealt with when you were in power,” she said, according to Hansard.