Dear, Whitby,

Thank you for your patience this week, as members of Council navigated an unusual and concerning series of events.

Earlier this week, two very serious allegations were levelled at myself, my fellow councillors and our Town staff.

The first is a claim from Regional Councillor Chris Leahy that a “secret meeting” was held on Oct. 7 in violation of the Municipal Act. I immediately responded to that allegation on Oct. 8, as did Town of Whitby Chief Administrative Officer Matt Gaskell.

As we said then, we welcome an investigation and will share those results publicly as soon as possible.

The second is a claim that Regional Councillor Steve Yamada has faced ongoing anti-Asian racism at the hands of this Council and that this alleged racism ultimately led him to resign from the role of deputy mayor in June 2024.

Let me be clear.

The events that led to Regional Councillor Yamada’s resignation had nothing to do with racism, and everything to do with a long pattern of unacceptable conduct by Regional Councillor Yamada both within and outside of Council.

Any suggestion that race played a role in this situation is not only baseless but undermines the values we stand for as a town committed to diversity and inclusion.

Regional Councillor Yamada has been spoken to about his behaviour on multiple occasions since the beginning of this Council term – by myself and other members of Council without success.

Just yesterday, on Oct. 9, Regional Councillor Yamada was ejected from a meeting of Durham Regional Council by Regional Chair John Henry, for unacceptable behaviour.

All too often, we see a pattern of politicians attempting to distract from poor behaviour, by creating a false narrative.

The allegations brought forward this week are exactly that, and have created a sense of unrest on Council and in our community. I know many of you have been following the situation closely.

A great deal of false and misleading information has been shared and in situations like this, it can be challenging to separate fact from fiction.

As a next step in dealing with these allegations and Regional Councillor Leahy’s conduct on October 7, we look forward to referring the matter to the Town’s integrity commissioner.

We have oversight bodies in place to deal with conflict on councils and this is the time to step back and let them do their work.

The majority of Whitby Council is determined to address these matters in a transparent manner and carry on the business of the Town in the way our residents expect and deserve.

-       Elizabeth Roy, Mayor, Town of Whitby