The past few days have not been kind to Oro-Medonte Township Coun. Richard Schell.
On Wednesday, at the township's regular council meeting, the Ward 5 councillor was reprimanded and had his pay suspended for 60 days after council voted to accept the recommendations of the township’s integrity commissioner, who found Schell breached the township’s code of conduct and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
On Sunday, at a Ward 5 town-hall meeting in Hawkestone, Schell was mocked, jeered and booed by upward of 100 Oro-Medonte residents who packed the community hall to hear updates on the township’s three most pressing issues — cannabis, short-term rentals and boundary expansion plans by Barrie and Orillia — from Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw, Deputy Mayor Peter Lavoie and Coun. Schell.
During the open discussion on short-term rentals, Schell became a lightning rod.
Schell produced two documents, one he said was from the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and another one from the Superior Court of Justice. Both documents show, he claimed, that “short-term rentals are legal.”
“Not in Oro-Medonte they aren’t,” shouted a voice from the audience.
“That’s according to the report,” Schell countered. “It’s not my decision, it’s not council’s decision — it’s the decision of the court and it’s available to anybody who wants to look it up and I encourage you to do so.”
He then drew scattered laughter when he added: “I would like to remind everybody that I was voted in in this ward on my principles.”
Schell, who operates a bed and breakfast in Oro-Medonte, was challenged on the contents of the documents by lawyer Dean Blain, who asked Schell to elaborate on the contents of the documents since he said they demonstrate short-term rentals are legal in the township.
“One is from the Ontario Land Tribunal, issue date is Aug. 24, 2022 and the case is right here,” Schell said.
“Before you go on,” Blain interrupted, “that case, as you probably know, is the decision on the commercial accommodation amendment. The bylaw that was in place, prior to that amendment being enacted by the previous council, already prohibited short-term rentals in the township.”
Blain said the stand-alone amendment that was appealed by the short-term operators only dealt with the definition of commercial accommodation — it didn't affect the underlying bylaw.
“Second point is that decision is currently the one that’s under appeal and the Ontario Superior Court, in their initial preliminary findings, found it contains errors in law," Blain said.
The lawyer then asked about the second document.
“It’s from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice division court, dated March 24, 2023,” Schell said.
Blain wanted more details.
“Are you talking about the factum?” Schell asked.
“You said that was a decision five minutes ago,” Blain said. “Is it a decision or a factum?”
“This is a factum,” Schell said. “A list of facts.”
“Who filed that factum?” Blain asked.
“It says on here, the factum of the responding party — the Oro-Medonte Association for Responsible STRs,” Schell said.
“Five minutes ago, sir, you referred to that as a decision of the Ontario Superior Court, which it is not,” Blain said. “It is simply a biased statement of the position of the operators.”
Blain asked Schell if that document — the factum of the Oro-Medonte Associations for Responsible STRs — was the subject of the integrity commissioner’s report, which recommended the reprimand and loss of pay.
“That is correct,” Schell said.
“I think in the integrity commissioner’s report he said it was a factum. Do you remember that?” Blain asked.
“Yes, I do,” Schell responded. “And he also said I didn't probably fully understand, I'm not a lawyer.”
“Right, but you are aware of what the integrity commissioner said and yet, to a hundred people, five minutes ago, you said it was a decision of the Ontario Superior Court that demonstrated short-term rentals are legal and that’s not correct,” Blain said.
“Thank you for correcting me on that. Thank you very much,” Schell said.
Schell’s admission earned him a round of applause and the session would have ended there, but he decided to ignore everything that had just happened and returned to his original position.
“Thank you everybody,” he said when the applause died down. “But it is a set of facts and it is documentation. These are a set of facts, court documents, and, quite frankly, I believe them."
That comment brought more boos from the crowd.
Blain said he couldn’t let Schell’s comment go.
“Have you also read the factum from the Township of Oro-Medonte,” Blain asked.
“No,” said Schell.
Oro-Medonte Mayor Randy Greenlaw said he isn’t convinced Schell’s actions are in his, or the township’s, best interest.
“It is concerning that any councillor would present materials to a matter that they have recused themselves from,” Greenlaw said. “Particularly as it is an attempt to further that councillor’s position opposing the will of council.”
