Mayor apologizes for not stopping personal attacks

Wellington North Mayor Andy Lennox apologized at the council meeting here on Nov. 23 for not standing up against personal attacks and asserted that he would stop them from happening again.

“At our last meeting councillor (Steve) McCabe was subjected to a personal attack by individuals delegating to this council and I should have intervened and stopped the attacks … I was unprepared for it and completely taken off guard by it,” he said.

“We must have a forum free from personal attacks and free from bullying of any individual whose view may be unpopular with some.”

The apology referred to the delegations of Andy Tarc and Bob Armstrong at the Nov. 9 council meeting regarding the allowance of Sunday hunting with firearms.

Tarc asked for McCabe’s resignation over McCabe’s comments on the Mennonite community at the Oct. 5 meeting.

“If you tell a statement that’s not true, you should resign,” said Tarc.

Armstrong said, “there should be a retraction put into the paper by Mr. McCabe saying that that’s not true.”

McCabe had said “farmers and hunters across this township are very supportive to have this come to fruition, including those in the Mennonite community.”

McCabe apologized on Nov. 23, saying, “I do feel that my words were misrepresented in the public sphere, it was not my intent to have the proposition for the Sunday gun hunt misinterpreted.”

Lennox went on to say “From now on anyone participating in such comments will be stopped, asked to retract their comments and apologize.

“If they refuse, their privilege to address council on the matter will be revoked.”

 

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