Request to suspend respectful workplace policy rejected by Council

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The City of Stratford’s much-maligned “Respectful Workplace Policy” will remain in place for now, although the City Council has directed staff to review the policy.

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At Monday night’s meeting, the council voted 9-2 against a motion by Councilman Cody Sebben to suspend the rule, but voted unanimously to review the rule, which has come under criticism in recent months when some residents were banned from all city buildings and council meetings for three months.

Before the vote, several residents, including Ken Wood and Barb Shaughnessy – both of whom were on lockdown until earlier this month – spoke in support of Sebben’s motion. Robert Roth, a former journalist and councillor in two Ontario municipalities, said the workplace guidelines are intended for “workers, not the general public.”

“If you demand respect, you will be met with contempt,” he added.

Shaughnessy’s husband, Tim Forester, opposed the workplace directive, which is read before every council meeting, saying it contained the message of an authoritarian regime.

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“Job politics is dead,” he said.

Resident Jason Davis said no one in the council chamber made him feel unsafe, but noted that it was important that residents not feel intimidated or frightened.

“The feelings of city employees are valid because they are their own,” he said. “However, there has to be a balance between their feelings and their actions on behalf of the city.”

Councillor Mark Hunter said he could not support the motion because it would put the city in “deliberate breach of the Workplace Health and Safety Act”.

“I don’t know why it’s so difficult to have to be respectful,” he continued. Hunter added that he would welcome a revision of the policy but would not give it a higher priority than other issues.

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Sebben’s proposal was first introduced on July 5 – the same evening that Shaughnessy and Mike Sullivan, another exiled resident, returned to council as delegates and expressed their support for the motion.

“Instead of encouraging community engagement, a lot is being done to discourage it,” Sebben told the Beacon Herald at the time.

On Monday, Sebben said the problem was not that there was a policy, but that the policy was not working.

“We have meetings that are being canceled,” he said. “We have a city council that cannot function.”

Council member Geza Wordofa also voted to suspend this policy.

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