CORNWALL, Ontario – South Stormont Mayor Bryan McGillis has received a warning from the township’s integrity commissioner over a spat that was sparked by an angry resident.
McGillis has consented to an interview to address this matter, and others. The story can be found here.
Neil Stewart filed a complaint with integrity commissioner Robert Swayze weeks ago after he and McGillis became embroiled in a profanity-laced confrontation at a public event.
Swayze called out Stewart for starting the incident. Swayze said Stewart pointed a finger at McGillis at a political breakfast April 12 and stated he “does not like that man.”
Initially McGillis said Thursday he could not comment on the specifics of the incident because it is confidential, and he took issue with the media reporting on the subject because of that.
The correspondence provided to Stewart has the word “Confidential” labelled across the top, but in an interview the Long Sault resident told Seaway News he has no issue releasing it publicly.
Swayze weighed in on the matter as well.
“I think it’s (releasing the correspondence) inappropriate, but I can’t enforce it,” he said. “It’s less about township business and more about two fellows who used to work together and don’t like each other.”
McGillis was warned by Swayze to keep things in check next from now on.
“The mayor should not have become embroiled in the altercation,” Swayze writes in correspondence to Stewart. “I have spoken with him and he understands that a mayor should not lose his temper in these circumstances and he promises that it will not happen again.
“I am satisfied that he will respect my warning.”
Both parties, said Swayze in the correspondence, accuse the other of using inappropriate language during the exchange.
Swayze indicates in his report that he considers the matter closed.
