Stratford residents' comments that led to city hall ban were 'innocuous,' lawyer says

The lawyer for two Stratford residents who were banned from city buildings after speaking out at a council meeting says the move is a threat to democracy, and that his clients were simply exercising their right to critique elected officials and public policy. 

"I've never seen anything like this where people who are simply criticizing city council and members of staff have been banned outright for the most innocuous expressions of discontent with council," said the lawyer, David Donnelly. "This is why we pay taxes and why people fought and died for our rights in Canada.

"You simply cannot bar people from council because you don't like what they are saying."

Last month, Stratford resident Mike Sullivan received a letter from the city's lawyer, stating he is temporarily banned from all city facilities and from contacting staff for three months. The letter said Sullivan has engaged in behaviour that is "disrespectful, derogatory, inappropriate and vexatious," and contrary to Stratford's Respectful Workplace Policy.

"You have made numerous derogatory and misleading comments against several members of the City's Senior Administrative Staff," stated the letter, dated April 4, 2024. 

Sullivan, a former NDP MP who represented York South-Weston from 2011 to 2015, and an organizer of the citizen advocacy group Get Concerned Stratford, was one of two individuals who have been banned, he said. A third person has received a written warning.  

"I think what it's really all about is that I've been poking at council's actions" he said. "The city has been incredibly difficult to get information out of every step of the way."

At a Feb. 26 city council meeting, Sullivan asked council to make meetings more transparent, commented on the city budget and alleged the city clerk had "quietly changed" the process for the public to submit delegations. 

During the meeting, Sullivan also pointed to an independent investigation, which found one-third of council's votes were held in-camera (sessions that are closed to the public). In Ontario, in-camera votes are only allowed in certain situations, including procedural matters or to give staff directions, according to the province's ombudsman

In an interview with CBC News, Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma declined to specify what the inappropriate behaviour was, but said it's important to take action when the safety of members in city facilities is threatened because a safe environment is a shared responsibility of council, staff, and the public. 

"I won't get into specifics but certainly there were threatening physical comments and also comments made that, in my opinion, were offensive and humiliating," Ritsma said. "When you believe that someone has been harmed and you don't address it, then the next time someone else may be fearful to appear in front of council."

Ritsma said comments were made before and after the meeting, and during breaks. The city's CAO Joan Thompson said in an email that at one point there was a threat of violence outside council chambers, but didn't identify who made those threats.

On Monday, the city sent Donnelly a correspondence saying Sullivan's comments against the clerk's policies were "incorrect," in suggesting the clerk on their own initiative decided to breach or revise procedural by-law.

"It's very chilling and means the public basically isn't welcome to criticize," Sullivan said of the ban. "People are passionate about their political leaders and can be angry with them, but that doesn't give them any punishment."