Shaughnessy acted improperly

May 9, 2017 · 0 Comments

It’s nice to see that the Town of Caledon has not been forgotten when it comes to the phenomenon of “fake news.”
I refer specifically to the letters to the editor that have been published in this newspaper over the past two weeks regarding the Integrity Commissioner’s investigation against Ward 1 Regional Councillor Barb Shaughnessy.
This is an organized campaign by a dozen or so people to distract from the real issue of Shaughnessy’s improper behavior towards numerous Town staff and two Regional councillors.
Eleven staff members who were represented by the Chief Administrative Officer Mike Galloway, and the two Regional councillors finally had enough and had the courage to come forward and ask the Integrity Commissioner to investigate. His report is clear — he found that Shaughnessy had acted improperly, clearly stated his reasoning, and applied sanctions.
No one is trying to muzzle Shaughnessy from representing her constituents to the best of her ability. What people are objecting to is her style and personality which is too often outright bullying, or to use the term from the report, intimidation.
To say that Shaughnessy was not given time to respond is nonsense. She had 10 full days to respond to the complaints and, it may be news to these supporters, she did so.
As clearly stated by most of the councillors, they took no glee in dealing publicly with this issue, but nevertheless voted 6-2 in favour of the report. The truth is there for everyone to see. Now let’s move on to the numerous issues of real concern to the citizens of Caledon.
Duncan McCallum,
Ward 1,
Town of Caledon