GUELPH POLITICAST #428 – The S#!t Disturber (feat. Mike Sullivan)

What could have been a small one-day story about disagreements around the table at Stratford city council has become emblematic of a bigger issue. Aside from the fine line between criticism of our civic leaders and outright threatening behaviour, there’s also a question about whether their mayor and council are being as open and transparent as it should be, and one man - famously - has his doubts.

Members from Get Concerned Stratford have appeared on this podcast before. The group itself was born out of concerns around Stratford council’s efforts to approve the construction of a controversial glass plant in the city. But the circumstances that led to the Xinyi controversy lingered, even with a new council, and it all seemed to come together at a council meeting on February 26.

At that meeting, there was a report about the use of closed meeting protocols that showed Stratford council was frequently making decisions in-camera, but attention instead went to a matter of zoning where two delegates - Mike Sullivan and Barb Shaughnessy - were accused of making statements that were allegedly threatening and disrespectful. They both got three-month bans from council and that's where the controversy - and this podcast - really begins!

Sullivan joins us this week to tell us about what happened at the February 26 meeting, how he learned that he was temporarily banned from council and what happened the first time he showed up anyway. He will also tell us about his efforts to learn more about what goes on in closed meetings, the repeatedly failed attempts to get the ban lifted, and where the battle goes now that the ban has expired. Also, where's the fine line between legitimate criticism and an ad hominem attack?

So let's look at what's going on in Stratford with this week's Guelph Politicast!

Some late breaking news at Monday council’s meeting it was unanimously decided that the Respectful Workplace Policy would be reviewed by staff, but only two members of council voted to suspend the policy. You can learn more about Get Concerned Stratford at their website here. You can find links to the videos of council meetings at the City of Stratford at their website.

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Photo Courtesy of Get Concerned Stratford Facebook.