TORONTO — Ontario's ombudsman is calling on the tiny township of Red Rock, Ont., to lift a trespass order that bars one of its councillors from entering the municipal building during the daytime, a measure the watchdog calls unjust and excessive.
Ombudsman Paul Dube made the recommendation in a report entitled "Counter Encounter," released Wednesday.
Dube says the problem started in September 2014 when Lewis Martin went to register as a candidate for council at the clerk's counter in the municipal building in Red Rock, a township of 900 in northwestern Ontario.
There was a disagreement over the paperwork and, after an investigation the ombudsman dubbed "perfunctory and procedurally unfair," the top civil servant barred Martin from entering the municipal building during the day with a series of trespass orders.
Martin was elected in October 2014 for a four-year term and can attend council meetings, as they're held at night. However, the councillor complained to the ombudsman that the order hinders him from conducting personal and council-related business, as he can no longer use the town library's computer and fax machine, located in the municipal building.
Dube found that while Martin was condescending in the "counter encounter" in question, there's no evidence he was violent or threatening.
Dube says both the top civil servant and Red Rock’s mayor say they won't rescind the trespass order until Martin apologizes, and says they even called police to eject Martin from a meeting held to discuss the ombudsman’s findings.
Dube says everyone is "entrenched in their positions" and warns this "threatens to undermine public confidence in the township’s administration" and does "a disservice to the citizens of Red Rock."
Neither the township's top civil servant nor its mayor were availabe for comment Wednesday.
Ontario's ombudsman was given power to investigate complaints about the province's 444 municipalities in 2016. He can make recommendations, but they are not binding on municipalities.
Jessica Smith Cross , The Canadian Press
