ARICHAT: An investigation by Richmond Municipal Council has determined that a councillor has violated the code of conduct.
Following an in-camera session before the conclusion of the March 21 regular monthly meeting, Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette confirmed that council passed a motion that a breach of the Municipal Code of Conduct Policy occurred and that council’s proposed sanctions have been forwarded to the municipal solicitor. The warden wouldn’t comment further on the matter.
The Reporter has confirmed with multiple sources that the investigation began after a Richmond County woman accused District 2 Councillor Michael Diggdon of sending her inappropriate messages when she asked him for help finding housing.
Jessica Forgeron provided 20 screenshots to The Reporter showing interactions she had with the municipal councillor’s accounts, including text messages exchanged in April 2021, and a series of Facebook Messages on Nov. 22 and 23, 2021.
Forgeron said she was having trouble finding housing through the Cape Breton Island Housing Authority last spring, and her family suggested she speak with someone with the Municipality of the County of Richmond.
“I found myself stuck in Amherst basically, I had to go there; we were homeless. Me and my children went there to a shelter,” Forgeron recalled. “There were no supports for my autistic children. So I was desperately trying to get home, and I was dealing with housing, and I was having a rough go with them from the start.”
Forgeron said she contacted Diggdon at that time.
“I was getting nowhere with them,” she said of the CBHA. “It was last-ditch attempt to try and contact somebody from the municipality and Michael was the only one I knew.”
In the texts exchanged last April, after she reached out to the municipal councillor, Forgeron received a reply asking for pictures.
“I’m just on a meeting call for 1 hr. Then I’ll call you beautiful. Send me a pic f——er. Lol,” says the screenshot.
After Forgeron sent him pictures of a new car she had recently purchased, the screenshots show the reply “Not of the car.”
“He asked where I was, and I said Amherst, and he said he would be in touch the next day and he never was in touch,” Forgeron told The Reporter. “He knew I was four hours away and I didn’t send him any kind of photos. I didn’t hear back from him so I just gave up on it then.”
With rent becoming expensive and her children’s school situation worsening, Forgeron said she moved from Amherst to Leeside Transition House in Port Hawkesbury in late October.
As her problems with the CBIHA continued, Forgeron said she contacted Richmond MLA Trevor Boudreau and spoke to housing support staff at Leeside. Her family again encouraged her to reach out to Diggdon “because he was a family friend, and again he’s on council,” but she said that she declined to follow up with the councillor at the time.
Among the 20 screenshots provided by Forgeron to The Reporter was a conversation, on Facebook Messenger on Nov. 22 and 23, 2021.
“Michael reached out from the page that he had told me that he made for his political campaign-type thing. He reached out from that page and a conversation ensued,” noted Forgeron.
Even after that first interaction, Forgeron said she replied to Diggdon because she was “desperate” to hear about her housing request.
“I assumed he had heard something from the MLA, or from somebody else in office that I contacted, or from my sister even, or from my father. I had no idea why he was reaching out, but I figured it was because he had heard I was looking for an advocate, and I had mentioned it to him before, and I thought maybe he was coming around to do the right thing. A second into the conversation, I realized that wasn’t the case,” stated Forgeron. “I was desperate, and I tried to deter him through the whole conversation, back to the issue.”
The screenshots show that on Nov. 22, at 5:06 p.m., Forgeron received a message, “I’m just getting in the shower. Coming in. Lol.”
According to the screenshots, Forgeron received another request for a picture, and when asked by Forgeron “don’t you want to hear what I need help with,” the reply was “I want a pic first,” then, “don’t be shy.”
“I said, ‘No seriously, this is a serious issue,’ and then he let me speak about what I had to say, and by then I’m feeling defeated anyways,” Forgeron told The Reporter. “It took a lot to just explain it to him because at that point I’m desperate, and I’m in a shelter with two kids, and I just really needed help.”
The time stamp for the messages show they were sent as the municipal Bylaw and Policy Committee met on Nov. 22. One said, “I’m bored in my meeting.”
According to the screenshots, Forgeron then asked, “Shouldn’t you be paying attention?” She got another reply asking for a picture.
The screenshots show that after agreeing to meet the following day to discuss her situation, Forgeron received a message which states, “Now I still want a pic beautiful,” followed by another asking for multiple pictures, “I only get home after 10. You have time for several.”
Based on past interactions and experiences with the councillor, Forgeron said she did not believe at the time, and still does not believe, that Diggdon was joking when asking for pictures.
“I knew right away he was serious, and what he wanted,” she stated. “He wanted a naked picture of me.”
The regular monthly meeting of Richmond Municipal Council on Nov. 22 ran from 7 p.m. until 9:29 p.m. At 8:09 that night, Forgeron received a message from Diggdon’s account, saying, “I’m boreeeeed,” and another plea for a picture.
“The fact that he was doing it at a meeting just fuels the anger about it,” Forgeron noted. “I did confide in my sister at that time, and then I went downstairs and I confided to the Leeside staff and my support worker what had happened, and I cried about it all night.”
On Nov. 23 at 3:20 p.m., Forgeron tried again for a conversation about her housing situation. The reply was “Hey sugar. Can you call me tomorrow or I can call you in the morning.”
Forgeron says he called her the next morning.
“He called my phone, and I heard his voice, and I hung up. I hung the phone up, and then I blocked his number,” she recalls. “It was not a conversation I could stomach.”
She says they haven’t been in contact since. She adds that the interactions were a blow after two years of homelessness, while struggling with mental health and addiction issues, and trying to raise two children with autism.
“It made it 100 times worse, it did. Sitting in a shelter with my two children, sitting in a room together next to five other families I don’t know, while I’m sitting in a hallway with a lamp, trying to write emails and advocate for myself; it made it that much worse,” she said. “It made me feel that it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I don’t even know how I got out of bed the next morning.”
Forgeron said she would have preferred if Diggdon did nothing rather than, “demeaning me in the situation I was in.”
“I’m not looking to destroy anyone’s life or do anything to anyone, but I mean, I’ve put up with a lot of stuff for a long time,” she said. “I hate to be the greasy wheel, or the whistleblower, or whatever people are going to call it, but I guess I’m the greasy wheel.”
Still upset over the interaction, on Nov. 29, 2021, Forgeron said she gave permission to a family member, who confirmed with The Reporter that they showed District 1 Councillor Shawn Samson screenshots of the conversation and shared information about the interaction. The family member, who requested anonymity, said Samson relayed that information to Warden Amanda Mombourquette.
On March 9, Forgeron said she met with the warden to detail her complaint, and provide screenshots of the interactions.
“Amanda was great to deal with, I could tell she had empathy, and she was sorry for what I’d been through, and she was shocked,” Forgeron recounted.
During that meeting earlier this month, Forgeron recounted that Mombourquette confirmed a councillor was under investigation, and that the municipality was taking the matter seriously. Forgeron said she also provided a statement to council which was reviewed at the in-camera session on March 21 in Arichat.
Near the conclusion of the committee of the whole meeting on Dec. 6, 2021, Diggdon declared a conflict of interest and removed himself from discussions.
After that, the rest of council passed a motion to “move forward and investigate the matter, as discussed in-camera.”
According to the municipal Code of Conduct policy, councillors are: expected to conduct themselves with a high standard of morality; they are expected to respect the chair, colleagues, staff, and members of the public during council meetings; and observe a high standard of professionalism when representing the municipality in the community.
The municipal policy also mandates that councillors treat everyone with dignity, understanding, and respect, and ensure their work environment is free from bullying, discrimination, and harassment.
While the policy encourages anyone to step forward with complaints, if there is a breach, council can take “corrective action,” which may include a formal warning or reprimand.
Although there are penalties for violating the code of conduct, Forgeron said it’s upsetting that Diggdon cannot be removed from council.
“I just feel that he should’ve been put on leave with pay, or whatever it is, because everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but with such a serious allegation, the fact that there is no avenue for them to put this guy out of office right now, is so disheartening to me,” she said.
Hoping to spread awareness, Forgeron added that she had to speak out.
“I reached out to The Reporter because the way I look at it is, if I don’t open my mouth now, it’s going to follow me around forever,” she added. “We’re not living in the 1960s. You can’t talk to women like that anymore. It’s time to get over that, it’s time to stop pretending it’s OK, and that it doesn’t happen.”
Contacted for an interview, Diggdon confirmed the misconduct finding, plus that council’s motion is being reviewed by the municipality’s legal representative. He refused to comment further.