Alexander Leach, Editor
Last week at the Council meeting, The Integrity commissioner’s report described the incident investigated as well as the recommendation to reprimand the Councillor for his behaviour.
At the August 3rd meeting, the Council refused to vote on the motion to reprimand, requiring they split the motion into two, one to receive the report and the other to issue the letter of reprimand to Councillor Olmstead.
CAO Ivan Burton informed the Council that “we have to make the report public” after suggesting the split, as it would make the report part of the Council minutes, and therefore public record.
According to Integrity Commissioner Tony Fleming, a complaint was lodged against Councillor Olmstead for an incident on January 21 of 2022.
“The complaint alleged that on January 21, 2022, Councillor Olmstead was using a road allowance for snowmobiling when the resident asked him what he was doing and Mr. Olmstead shouted at the resident “Do you know who I am?” and aggressively approached him shoving his phone in the resident’s face.
Further, the Complaint alleged Councillor Olmstead rode his snowmobile back and forth in an aggressive manner in front of the resident’s home and shouted at the resident.”
The report said that Councillor Olmstead provided video evidence.
A description of the evidence did not show Councillor Olmstead uttering the alleged comments, but rather responding to the challenges with “what’s your problem” and “I’m Chris Olmstead.”
He also said that he found “the tone and statements made by [Councillor Olmstead] on the video appeared aggressive and confrontational and did not appear intended to diffuse the situation,” which he said Councillor Olmstead had claimed to have tried to do.
Fleming wrote that there were ‘credibility issues’ with both witnesses, based on the video and the conflicting findings.
He cited the Township policy in leading to his decision to recommend a letter of reprimand to the Councillor.
According to the Policy Statement for the Township, “The Corporation of the Township of Whitewater Region is committed to achieving the highest quality of municipal administration and governance by encouraging high standards of conduct on the part of all elected officials and members of its Boards and Committees.”
Councillor Olmstead sent a letter to the Whitewater News the week of August 11th, naming the complaintent as “Mr. Harold Gilchrist” and claiming that he “tried to run me over with his vehicle, then block my path with his vehicle.”
Councillor Olmstead’s letter provided little other information on the incident for publication.
“The allegations made by Mr Gilchrist are indisputably false, as has been proven with video evidence.” he wrote.
“I am not at liberty to provide further details of the incident or conversations afterward due to a pending defamation suit against Mr Gilchrist.”
