City Council votes against disciplinary action for Coun. Terina Shaw

City Coun. Terina Shaw will not receive disciplinary actions by her fellow councillors after a report was issued in regards to the Ethics Code bylaw.

The vote in favour of imposing no sanctions, censures or corrective actions was brought fourth by fellow Coun. Bob Hawkins, after the group heard from the Integrity Commissioner, complainant Andrew Stevens and Shaw herself.

Council heard first from the Integrity Commissioner, Angela Kruk, on Wednesday, who recommended Shaw receive some training and education on how to communicate effectively.

“I did not find any malice in her comments nor did I find any intent to offend on her part,” Kruk said on her decision to recommend training.

The Complainant, Stevens spoke next.

Earlier in the day, Stevens told CTV News the report was actually part of six incidents that had piled up since 2021, but that this was the only one Kruk found validation in.

Stevens said he had originally made the report as a last resort when he and Shaw were not in communication.

He said he informed Coun. Shannon Zachidniak prior to submitting the report, but that he and Shaw spoke after.

“I actually wanted this to be withdrawn when we were dealing with it in private, simply because I did not want it to go any further and at that point Coun. Shaw and I had come to terms and I believe the issues were being corrected.”

Shaw spoke in front of council and explained that she has mental health issues that often impair her judgement when it comes to her impulses.

“I let people close to me know that I suffer from a brain injury and my attention deficit disorder,” Shaw said.

She explained that she had disclosed these conditions to Kruk in her one-on-one interview.

Upon hearing this, Coun. Dan Le Blanc asked that council have an in camera meeting prior to voting to receive some legal advice, considering the change in circumstance.

A vote was held, and a 6-2 verdict came down in favour of no further action.

Mayor Sandra Masters had voted against this option, explaining afterwards that there would be some benefit to communication training.

As for Shaw, her concern was for the public opinion of the council, which is why she said she came forward with such private details.

“The negative reflection of what I have brought to council at times, the way that the public has seen it, the way that the media has ran with it, I did not want that to reflect anymore on council. I wanted everyone to know this about me,” Shaw said.

Also within the report, financial impacts were made public, siting that this complaint took 38.7 hours and cost $13,702.

Something Stevens found concerning, especially for the public.

“It’s really odd that they would include that because they don’t include that cost any other time so it’s labour time, that’s their job, they didn’t get distracted from their original duties. I’m not sure why they included that, but again, we pay the integrity commissioner whether they do work or not,” he said.

City Manager Jim Nicol, clarified in a media conference that money for these types of investigations are included within the annual budget and not an additional cost incurred.

In addition, he spoke to another report involving Shaw.

A report on Shaw’s comments on Indigenous Peoples was submitted to the integrity commissioner, but the complainants went public with the report.

In normal circumstances, executive council would not hear about a report until it was presented to them.

Nicol said he was given the information from the integrity commissioner over three weeks ago.

“The complainants were told that it was unsubstantiated,” he said.

“I had a discussion with the integrity commissioner and indicated it was only appropriate that Coun. Shaw also be apprised of this because otherwise, she would not know what was going on, but they did. Again, this is an oddity, ideally these should never be aired in public this until such time as they come before council.”

Masters confirmed that she knew about this situation but due to the confidentiality of the results from the integrity commissioner, has not spoken out publicly, but has met with the complainants privately.

“There were two complainants that reached out to my office, we’ve had meetings and we're continuing to work through that process, just in terms of next steps going forward.”