ANTIGONISH: Eight days after the Town of Antigonish and the Municipality of the County of Antigonish voted in favour of consolidation, the CAOs from both municipal units spoke about the disrespect, taunting, intimidation, and threats shown towards several town and county councillors, Warden Owen McCarron and especially Mayor Laurie Boucher.
“We understand and respect the varying views, differences of opinion and strong emotions some residents feel with respect to consolidation,” Jeff Lawrence and Glenn Horne said in a joint press release on Oct. 28. “Mayor Boucher, in particular, has been experiencing personal attacks, anonymous voicemails, and defamatory social media comments, some of which have been reported to the RCMP. This is bullying plain and simple and does not reflect who we are as a community.”
The two CAOs advised people have the right to vigorously disagree on something, but no matter what the issue is, it’s not OK to name call, demean, or threaten someone in return.
“This is unacceptable behaviour and deeply troubling. As CAOs for the town and county, we are asking this small group of residents to stop with the harassment,” the duo said in the release. “We are asking the rest of our community not to condone this harassment. The decision to move forward with special legislation for consolidation was not made lightly, and it was a decision made by both councils, not one individual person.”
The CAOs suggested while they are by no means discouraging public discourse, it is their duty to create a safe space for discussion and debate.
“We ask all residents, before you post a comment, send an email, or pick-up the phone, please remember, these are real people,” they said. “Your friends and neighbours, are (the ones) receiving it on the other end.”
After news of the harassment towards the mayor started to circulate, another local politician weighed in on the situation, highlighting her own experience.
Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, the mayor of the Town of Port Hawkesbury, said in a Facebook post that it’s important to allow for dissenting voices in any democracy .
“However, when those who are dissenting choose to bully, dehumanize, degrade, character assassinate, slander, threaten or disrespect, this behaviour is not acceptable. If you disagree always do so in a respectful and constructive manner,” Chisholm-Beaton said. “I know what it is like to be targeted and to be threatened, as an elected official and as a female leader. Bullies will never get my respect.”
While they couldn’t confirm the amount of threats made towards the mayor by press time, Cpl. Chris Marshall, a public information officer with the RCMP, was able to confirm with The Reporter that they are aware of the situation.
“The Antigonish County District RCMP is aware of the joint statement issued by the Town of Antigonish and the Municipality of the County of Antigonish, and the contents of the statement alleging personal attacks, anonymous voicemails, and defamatory social media comments, being reported to the RCMP,” Marshall said in a written response. “The Antigonish County District RCMP has received a report related to these incidents and a file has been opened.”
Anne-Marie Long, an Antigonish County resident opposed to the consolidation process, suggested she wasn’t surprised with the outcome of the vote as they knew where councillors stood prior to the vote.
Sitting on the verdict for a little over a week, she suggested the group Let Antigonish Decide has come to terms with the fact their fight now lies within the hands of the province.
“And we go forward from there,” Long told The Reporter on Oct. 31. “Our fight now will be with the province and we have to determine what that fight is going to be, but I would not rule out legal action. It would be a question of accumulating enough funds, because it will be expensive.”
The group is also spearheading another petition campaign, and according to Long, will be submitted to Antigonish MLA Michelle Thompson and Guysborough-Tracadie MLA Greg Morrow.
“I don’t think the morale of the group is down; it’s just we know that we face a challenge that’s greater and more costly,” Long said. “If we cannot get the premier and the (MLAs) to see reason, because throughout this process, they started out, both the mayor and the warden by saying a plebiscite is divisive, that was hogwash and deliberate.”
She indicated if the councillors had done their job and really wanted the consolidation vote to go through, the smart process would have been to open up and tell the constituents all the things they were asking for over the 13-month consolidation process.
“We were asking for solid financial information; what are the infrastructure needs, why is the water in South River not being developed to stop all these water issues they have every summer and what’s going to happen with the utility,” Long said. “They’re selling an idea and the reasons that they give are not going to change if we don’t consolidate. Honestly, had they provided all the information we wanted and it looks like it’s a good deal, I think most people in a plebiscite would have said yes.”
Speaking on the fact that the mayor has been a recent victim of threats, Long said that behaviour is inappropriate.
“However, it’s the ramifications of what’s been done. Under no circumstances is it appropriate, but people are angry and you have to move forward,” Long said. “There has been absolutely nothing on that (Facebook) site that has been bullying or threatening. Let’s differentiate between name calling and threats, because they are worlds apart.”
The one good thing about this, she said, is the RCMP know the difference and they will deal with it, but Long totally disagrees with anybody threatening or bullying the mayor or any other councillors.
“For whatever motives they made to vote the way they did, that was what they did and should not now be attacking them for doing that to the extent that we’re bullying them or threatening them,” Long said. “I totally disagree with that; to tell them we disagree and why we disagree, absolutely. They need to be tough enough to take the flak from people disagreeing with a decision.”
Long disagreed with the McCarron’s suggestion that Boucher, as a woman, is receiving more of the vitriol.
“I don’t agree with that it’s because she’s a woman,” Long said. “I think most people see her as the orchestrator behind it all.”
In a post on the Let Antigonish Decide Facebook group on Nov. 1, Sarah Armstrong, one of the founding members, announced the group thoroughly denounces the threats and intimidation reported by the town and county CAOs.
“We seek democratic accountability through direct resident engagement with elected representatives on the issue of the process by which the town and county of Antigonish have pursued a merger without the direct consent of the residents of either municipality,” she said in the post. “This includes resident-led town halls, respectful phone calls and emails to elected representatives, debate, peaceful protest, petitions, and other legal avenues. We uphold the integrity of civil engagement.”
Long suggested despite the uphill battle ahead of them, the group is far from finished.
“It doesn’t mean that if we do decide to go to court, that the courts won’t agree with us,” she said. “Because it’s an absolute abuse of power.”