For the second time in less than a year, Midland Coun. Carole McGinn is the subject of an integrity commissioner’s report.
This time around, the town’s appointed integrity commissioner, Principles Integrity, found McGinn violated several sections of the municipality’s code of conduct that deal with improper Influence and falsely impugning the professional reputation and practice of staff.
“The respondent has demonstrated a pattern of behaviour by involving herself in operational and management issues involving the employee (her partner at the time),” the report stated, noting McGinn has seemingly disregarded the recommendations outlined in its July 8 report and has shown a “persistent and flagrant disregard” for the town’s code of conduct.
McGinn lost 15 days of pay the last time after her peers deemed her to be in conflict of interest when she participated in a closed session where town staff costing was discussed and she failed to declare a pecuniary interest regarding her then town-employed partner.
This latest chapter, which will be discussed at Wednesday evening's council meeting, began on Friday Jan. 8 when McGinn’s partner reported neck pain to his manager, who then directed him to sit in the lunchroom and wait to see if the pain subsided.
But contrary to that directive, the employee left the lunchroom and operated one of the town trucks before being contacted by radio and asked to return to the operations centre to see the manager.
“When the employee returned to the Operations Centre, at approximately 2:30 p.m. he announced that he was unable to continue working as a result of his neck pain,” the report reads. “He asked to either go home or to go to the hospital.”
While there were concerns about his health, the employee declined to go to the hospital and just wanted to drive home, the report noted.
“Management again told him he should not drive himself, as he did not appear able to safely drive, and he was again asked if he needed a ride or an ambulance.”
At that moment, McGinn called the employee’s cell phone and he put her on speakerphone. McGinn then began giving instructions to the staff present with her partner telling them what to do.
Paramedics were called and the employee was transported to hospital. He returned to work the following Monday.
On Jan. 26, McGinn sent an email regarding ‘Ambulatory evac – January 8th, 2021’ to the employee’s manager, his executive director, the lead hand, two other operations employees, who are union stewards, a human resources coordinator, the human resources director and the mayor.
“Notably, the respondent failed to include the Chief Administrative Officer (David Denault) in the January 26, 2021 email distribution list,” the report stated.
In the email, McGinn makes a number of allegations, including “that no one at the Operations Centre took the lead, that they were biased against the employee and that because of this bias, emergency first aid may not have been offered to him.”
She also notes “that people may not be responding to scenarios in a timely manner that could be immediately life-threatening or require medical intervention and diagnostics.”
Furthermore, she said that “a qualified and competent responder was needed to assess, secure the employee and the scene, and call 911” and “that moving forward, the appropriate best practice should be adhered to.”
And while her partner retired from his town position Feb. 28 and he and McGinn are apparently no longer together, it is alleged that by sending the late January email, McGinn was attempting to improperly use her position as councillor to intimidate the operations manager and damage his reputation among his staff, peers and upper management.
The report notes that the email was the catalyst for the complaint.
“We find that she was attempting to use her position as a Councillor to intimidate the Manager of Operations, her partner’s direct supervisor,” the report found.
“The respondent’s email asserted that no one at the Operations Centre had taken the lead, that they were biased against the employee, and that because of this bias, emergency first aid may not have been offered to him.
“We find that, on the contrary, it was clear that staff had assessed the situation and properly attended to the employee’s health issues. Best practices were followed, and that the employee was provided with the appropriate emergency first aid response.”
As well, the report noted that McGinn’s email made negative statements about staff’s response to the incident, implying that the operations manager was neither qualified nor competent.
“We find that the respondent thereby impugned the competence of the Operations Manager; by impugning his competence, and broadcasting the statement to his peers, employees and superiors, she was damaging his reputation," the report states.
“In addition to training provided through the Town, the recently-hired Operations Manager had over a dozen years’ municipal experience in Ontario and elsewhere, including the previous five years as New York City’s Manager of Operations for Central Park, a position which provided him with significant experience managing emergency situations, ensuring the health and safety of his employees.”
The council meeting begins at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday with a closed session. The open session begins at 7 p.m. and will be aired via Rogers TV and streamed online.
