Sebastian Johnston-Lindsay
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Peterborough Examiner
Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal walked out of council chambers Monday, refusing to hear from residents addressing an integrity report regarding his use of a racial slur.
Two residents had signed up to delegate on an integrity commissioner report that found Leal’s use of the N-word during a guest lecture at Trent University last March “unacceptable,” but not in contravention of council’s code of conduct.
“Because of the nature of the delegations this evening, I’ll recuse myself,” Leal said before handing over the chair’s responsibilities to Deputy Mayor Gary Baldwin, and exiting council chambers as members of the public gallery expressed muffled shock.
Leal made the decision even though the motion before council did not implicate the mayor in any pecuniary or other conflict of interest, which would have required him to be recused.
The first delegate, Iyiola Alade, president of the Trent Central Student Association, began by thanking councillors Alex Bierk and Joy Lachica for “continuously showing support and allyship to the Black and overall racialized community.”
Alade said the findings of the integrity commissioner’s report “shows how far we have to go as a city before claiming to be a safe and diverse community.”
The contention that Leal was quoting former U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson was called “a lie” by Alade, and the use of the slur was deemed “a direct attack on Black identities and not a mistake.”
“This same mayor, who has been present in Black History Month proclamations over the years and has given speeches — clearly, the man is a hoax and only sees his action as a check off for saving face,” Alade added.
Patricia Wilson, executive director of the Community Race Relations Committee (CRRC), addressed councillors next, stating that “it is not reasonable for anyone, especially an elected official and former cabinet minister, to claim ignorance about the harm of the N-word and the harm that it carries.”
“Saying that you didn’t know, in my opinion, is dishonest and a way to further evade accountability for harmful actions,” Wilson said, adding the committee has responded to a record number of racial advocacy cases in local school boards in the past year.
“Of those cases, the majority of them involved youth under 12. These youth under 12 were experiencing extreme racism in our Peterborough schools. I have kids that are suicidal, because of that word. I have children that are scared to go to school, because of that word.”
Following Wilson’s delegation, Coun. Keith Riel asked what more, in her opinion, could council do for the community.
Wilson suggested council boost funding for organizations involved in racial advocacy work and councillors attend more of the events organized by CRRC and partner organizations.
“I’d love to see more councillors out at some of our events,” Wilson said. “I often see Alex Bierk and Joy Lachica at our events, but I would really love it if other folks would come out to our events to actually hear and understand the importance of what racialized community members are facing in our community.”
Following the delegations, Leal rejoined his colleagues in council chambers, as one member of the gallery loudly and sarcastically welcomed him back into the room.
Despite being in the room, Leal refrained from voting on the first part of the motion, which allowed councillors to receive the report for information, but did not require any action from staff.
Councillors, Leal included, then voted unanimously to ask city staff to amend the council code of conduct to explicitly prohibit the use of racial slurs “regardless of context or circumstance.”
The motion came from recommendations by the city’s integrity commissioner, Guy Giorno. It also requires that the city’s strategic plan be amended to include anti-racism and race relations under the community and well-being pillar of the plan, and that all staff and councillors receive anti-racism, diversity and equity training.
Staff will report back within 60 days of Monday’s meeting about the code of conduct amendment and within 90 days with an implementation plan for training.
