Two paragraphs from a 99-page city council agenda generated more than 30 minutes of debate, thinly-veiled personal attacks and much hand-wringing at City Hall Monday night.
The two paragraphs in question were, in essence, a request by Coun. Mason Ainsworth to have the endorsement from his council colleagues to become a member of the executive committee for the Ontario Small Urban Municipalities (OSUM) and to represent the Small Urban Caucus on the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Board of Directors.
Ainsworth made a short plea for council support, outlining his work on various municipal committees, his attendance to various AMO and OSUM events and his ongoing political studies classes at Lakehead University.
“My experience and education have shown me the importance of building lasting relationships, advocating for municipal needs and being part of a strong united voice,” said Ainsworth. “I will be a strong voice for Orillia, our surrounding municipalities and small urban municipalities across Ontario.”
Two of Ainsworth’s colleagues were opposed to supporting his bid to represent the city at the provincial organizations.
Coun. Pat Hehn said she could not endorse Ainsworth “at this time.” She based her comments on his attendance record as council’s representative at county council, which Hehn characterized as “one of the most important” council appointments.
Hehn noted Ainsworth was appointed to the position in January of 2017 and “county minutes show that his attendance record was pretty regular at the beginning, but since June 13, he has missed 10 of 14 meetings and six of the past seven and has not attended a meeting since Oct. 24.”
She said “past conduct is usually a pretty good indication of future performance. My feeling is that if he does not have the time or ability to fulfill his obligations to the city or the county that this is not the right time to be taking on future responsibilities.”
Coun. Ted Emond agreed, saying he was “also struggling” with endorsing Ainsworth. “There is an effect and a consequence of (missing meetings) and that has come home clearly,” said Emond, noting he and others were forced to attend county council meetings to ensure Orillia was represented.
Unfazed, Ainsworth said he “respects” council’s opinions. However, he noted he had missed the meetings because they conflicted with a mandatory course he was taking at Lakehead.
“I thank Coun. Hehn for taking the time to do the research to find out my county council attendance record. It’s great to bring up because it’s accurate and true,” said Ainsworth. “What is also accurate and true is I let county council know that I was actually attending university during those times to a mandatory course that I could not miss or I would fail.”
That class, ironically, is Local Government in Canada, and wrapped up this week, so that conflict no longer exists, said Ainsworth, who noted he is just one of three city representatives at county council; Mayor Steve Clarke and Coun. Jeff Clark also represent the city at county council meetings.
Coun. Sarah Valiquette-Thompson defended Ainsworth and suggested council should support him.
“We do have a member of council attending post-secondary, which we should applaud him for,” said Valiquette-Thompson. “… If we can have a voice at these two tables … that’s a really big win for Orillia. I think we should look at the facts … and take some time to consider what we are voting on. Having a seat there is probably to our advantage and I’d hate to lose this opportunity.”
In the end, in a narrow 4-3 vote, council endorsed Ainsworth as a candidate to seek election at OSUM but did not endorse his AMO ambitions. Those in favour of his OSUM bid were Valiquette-Thompson, Coun. Ralph Cipolla, Ainsworth and Coun. Tim Lauer. Coun. Jeff Clark and Coun. Rob Kloostra were not at council Monday night.
