Prince Township residents voice displeasure with council

A group of Prince Township residents gathered outside the community’s municipal office Monday to express their discontent over the firing of its CAO by city council.

Mary Lynn Duguay was fired Wednesday, March 16.

Duguay told SooToday that no reason was given for the termination.

A public council meeting to establish a recruiting strategy for filling the CAO/clerk-treasurer vacancy was scheduled for Monday evening but cancelled during the afternoon.

Plans now call for a closed meeting of council regarding the recruiting strategy for 5:30 p.m. (today) Tuesday.

The municipal office doors were locked Monday evening, but LeeAnn Bagg, assistant clerk, was on hand outside to greet residents and inform them of the change in plans, given the short notice.

“I don’t have one good reason that I can come up with that would justify her firing. She did an impeccable job. She was a fantastic boss. The dynamic in the office was wonderful,” Bagg said, speaking to SooToday.  

“I read it was an open meeting. I was very interested in coming. When I found out it was cancelled and it was going to be a closed meeting, I wanted to show up here to make sure that the councillors know some people are interested in what’s going on. I came hoping to get my name recorded because I can’t be in town tomorrow. Even if it is a closed meeting I would’ve still been here when they came out because I think they need to know that we would like clarity,” said resident Gayle Russell.

“I think there’s a working environment issue. I’m not saying who’s right or who’s wrong but when you have a lot of employees who voice their dissatisfaction with the working environment it needs to be looked at, not just hire somebody new. I think you need to look at the situation and find out what the problem is and try to rectify that. I don’t see how you can move forward unless you look at what caused problems in the past and fix them. Otherwise you just repeat the same problems going forward.”

“I’ve sat in on a few of the open meetings. I’ve heard a lot of employees have concerns about the working environment. I take some stock in that. I’d like council to find out what the problem is,” Russell said.

“I’m here because I was planning on making a presentation at the public meeting because I don’t like the way things are handled, such as too many closed meetings every time they feel uncomfortable with being in the open air. I’ve noticed a lot of bullying going on here. It’s intimidating and it makes people afraid to speak up. There’s bullying by the elected people toward the staff and some volunteers,” said Margaret Christenson, former Prince Township Library CEO.      

Duguay was given a notice of termination and a non-disclosure agreement which she has until March 31 to sign.

“I’m definitely not signing it,” she told SooToday.

Duguay said she suspects things went sour when she raised the issue of pay equity with council.

“I put forth a wage report. They asked me to put forth a wage report and they were blindsided. The women at Prince Township are paid below average of all the municipalities in the area where the men on council and the roads department are paid above average for the area. They didn’t like that very much.” 

Duguay also expressed concern over the role of the township’s integrity commissioner.

“It was my understanding that the integrity commissioner for Prince Township was supposed to police council and the assistant clerk has been told the commissioner is representing council."

“I understood that was the job of the legal counsel, whereas the integrity commissioner was there to make sure council did things according to the law.”

Prince Township’s integrity commissioner works for E4m - Expertise for Municipalities - a group formed in 2017 that states it assists municipalities through “coaching, targeted custom support and wellness resources.”

“I will be following up with the Ontario Ombudsman and any other public body that needs to be notified of the fact that there are not three councillors (out of five on Prince Township’s council) who will stand up for the law,” Duguay said.

“I would like my job back. I love the people of Prince. They are supportive, wonderful and dedicated with a lot of great community spirit.” 

For now, Duguay said “my immediate concern is for the remaining staff.”

“You can terminate an employee without cause however she has emails saying what a wonderful job she was doing,” said Peggy Greco, who resigned from her job as Prince CAO last fall.

Greco resigned over workload issues and council’s decision last spring to end the township’s contract with the District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (DSSMSSAB) for the delivery of the Early ON program at the Parent/Child Resource Centre.

That would have led to job losses for the township’s Early ON workers.

Though that decision was reversed, Greco said the issue caused her a great deal of stress at the time.

Monday's meeting was rescheduled and changed to a closed session of council upon the advice of Prince Township’s legal department, said Ken Lamming, Prince Township mayor, speaking to SooToday earlier.