North Bay city councillor loses 3 months pay for comments about pregnant colleague

A North Bay city councillor accused of making disparaging comments about the age and pregnancy of another councillor has been docked three months pay.

The city's integrity commissioner found that Sara Inch violated the code of conduct three times in recent months.

That included an email to fellow city councillor Maggie Horsfield suggesting she was "young and starting life. Give yourself 15—20 years and maybe you'll understand" that was taken as ageist.

There was another email where Inch suggested that Horsfield might not be suited for the search for a new chief administrative officer because "she may be distracted by changes" in her personal life.

Horsfield was pregnant at the time. 

"I want to express my sincere apologies to each member of this council and to our community," Inch told a special meeting of city council Thursday.

"My words and actions, although not intended to cause harm, have fallen short of the standards we expect from our public representatives."

Inch said she was "reflecting deeply" and being "more mindful of my words and actions."

"I have also experienced harassment myself. Yelling, bullying, unwelcome negative comments on my personal life, but I chose to take a different route," she said before being cut off by Mayor Peter Chirico for not speaking about the issue before council.

"In light of recent events and in the spirit of reconciliation, I propose a solution where Councillor Horsfield and I, share the cost of the integrity commissioner..." Inch continued.

"Councillor Inch you are out of order," Chirico interjected, eventually asking the clerk to "mute" Inch's microphone.

Horsfield suggested that if the $36,486.12 bill for the investigation was a concern, that stripping Inch of three months pay could help to cover it. 

"Actions have consequences. Councillor Inch breached the code of conduct over and over and over again," Horsfield told council.

"The harassment continued even after the complaint was filed."

The integrity commissioner also found that Inch violated the code of conduct by posting on Facebook that she had been cut out of the budget process, which is led by Horsfield as deputy mayor.

After considering a 30-day pay suspension or a simple reprimand, North Bay city council voted unanimously to dock Inch of 90 days of her salary.