Belleville Mayor Taso Christopher (File photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
Belleville city council came to a halt for an hour Monday night after one councillor called on the mayor for an apology.
Councillor Mitch Panciuk rose just as the formal section of council was about to begin and called for an apology from Mayor Taso Christopher for comments he made about Councillors Panciuk, Kelly McCaw and Paul Carr at the last council meeting. And he said he hoped it “does not occur again.”
Belleville Councillor Mitch Panciuk at city council, October 23, 2017 (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
The situation occurred during a discussion on the proposed Lobbying Registry.
At first Mayor Christopher said he recognized the point of privilege but would not apologize. He said “I don’t feel an apology is needed.”
Panciuk said this was “unfortunate” and suggested the mayor review the transcript of the meeting.
Councillor Jack Miller said, “Can we ask the mayor to take a look at what we can do.”
Councillor Egerton Boyce suggested options should be considered, such as looking at the video of the meeting.
City Clerk Matt MacDonald made it clear there could be “no challenge to the chair, no debate.”
After this discussion, Mayor Christopher called a break so he could review the live streaming of that council meeting.
The October 10 debate involved a motion from Councillor Carr, calling for the establishment of a Lobbying Registry for councillors. It was voted down.
After about an hour the mayor returned to the council chambers.
He spoke from the mayor’s chair indicating he had reviewed the live streaming of the debate, “I do apologize if you feel your integrity was called into question by my comments last meeting. Now we can get along with business.”
Here is the the comment Panciuk was referring too.
Mayor Christopher later told a media scrum.
You can see the pertinent debate at 3 hrs. 27 min. by CLICKING HERE
