Kincardine Coun. Dave Cuyler. (File image from Zoom video meeting earlier this year)
Kincardine Mayor Gerry Glover has filed a formal complaint with the Integrity Commissioner after a councillor muttered a vulgar insult towards women after a verbal exchange with a female colleague.
Coun. Dave Cuyler said an obscenity during Monday’s council meeting following an exchange with Coun. Laura Haight, about a motion brought forward concerning the Promenade on Queen Street event in downtown Kincardine.
Bayshore Broadcasting News reviewed audio of the meeting. Cuyler can be heard muttering “you’re a … c – – t” as the chair was simultaneously speaking to try and settle things and allow business to proceed at the meeting.
Haight says she was appalled at what she heard.
“I’ve been called that before in my life. It was shocking then. But to hear it from a colleague around the council table was appalling,” says Haight. “I’ve been grateful for the support shown to me from members of the community over the past couple of days. I think Kincardine is starting to come to terms with the fact that misogyny still lives and breathes in our quiet little community by the lake. And we should be vigilant and call it out when it happens. This one was so egregious and obvious. But there’s little tiny things that happen to women and go unnoticed all the time and I think it’s time for a discussion.”
“In a weird way I’m hopeful,” Haight continues. “That we’ll learn from this and use it as an opportunity to start the conversation.”
Mayor Glover issued a statement Wednesday saying there were “unacceptable comments” made at the April 4 council meeting. Glover says the Integrity Commissioner will expedite a ruling on a formal complaint he filed and determine if a member of council has breached the Code of Conduct.
Glover says following the conclusion of the investigative review, the sequence of events and facts associated with the April 4 meeting will be presented in an open public meeting of council.
“I ask the public for patience while the matter is before the Integrity Commissioner,” Glover says in a statement.
Cuyler issued a statement apologizing to the “entire community and to all impacted by my actions” and claimed the comment was not directed to anyone other than himself.
“It was not my intention to offend or discriminate,” Cuyler says in a prepared written statement.
Twice before, the Integrity Commissioner has found Cuyler in breach of the Kincardine Council Code of Conduct.
Last year, Cuyler had his council pay suspended for 30 days and was forced to make a public apology after the Integrity Commissioner ruled he breached the Code of Conduct when he made comments at a Sept. 21, 2020 meeting questioning the integrity of survey findings.
The Integrity Commissioner also previously probed a complaint about Cuyler’s conduct and recommended sanctions in a Jan. 2020 report.
