LAURIE WEIR
Rideau Lakes council has rescinded three financial penalties previously imposed on Deputy Mayor Paula Banks and Coun. Jeff Banks, following legal advice that the sanctions exceeded council’s authority under the Municipal Act.
At the April 7 council meeting, members voted unanimously to repeal two 15-day pay suspensions assigned to Deputy Mayor Banks and one to Coun. Banks. The penalties were added during a March 3 meeting in response to Integrity Commissioner Ellen Fry’s reports, which recommended apologies only.
Fry’s reports related to incidents in November 2024. Deputy Mayor Banks was cited for turning her chair away from a delegate — Wendy Alford, a representative of Rideau Lakes Grassroots — during a council meeting. Coun. Banks was cited for inappropriate comments directed at Mayor Arie Hoogenboom during a subsequent discussion. He later apologized for his actions.
No financial penalties were recommended by the Integrity Commissioner.
A legal opinion obtained by the township concluded that council had overstepped its authority by adding sanctions beyond what was advised in the reports.
Two earlier sanctions — one for each Banks — remain in force. Those were not flagged in the legal opinion and were not reconsidered.
A separate motion requesting a formal apology from Mayor Arie Hoogenboom and councillors Ron Pollard and Marcia Maxwell was brought forward by Deputy Mayor Banks. That motion ended in a 3–3 tie and was defeated. Councillors Linda Carr, Sue Dunfield and Deborah Hutchings voted in favour. Hoogenboom, Pollard and Maxwell opposed. The Bankses abstained.
“I offered the olive branch,” Deputy Mayor Banks said. “All I asked for was an apology, which was what was recommended by the Integrity Commissioner, because it is time we moved on.”
Hoogenboom, who attended the meeting virtually, said, “My understanding is that the three Integrity Commissioner reports that were handled improperly are the ones that need to be reconsidered. We do not need to go back and reconsider the initial guilty findings where council voted for a suspension.”
Coun. Hutchings, who chaired the meeting, added: “If you can’t say you’re sorry, it tells us what kind of integrity you have. We’ve got to move on and let it go — or this will never be solved.”
Coun. Jeff Banks said, “I will not move forward with an apology because I don’t really care. I’m going to move forward and deal with this outside of this chamber.”
He added that the process had caused reputational harm.
“There has to be recognition that some people have gone too far. I apologize to staff for the embarrassment that this has put them in.”
Deputy Mayor Banks also raised concerns about media comments made by Mayor Hoogenboom and former Coun. Joan Delaney following the March 3 meeting. Delaney resigned her position the following day, and the mayor stepped away from the municipal council table citing health issues and increased tensions surrounding a non-confidence vote. He has since returned, virtually.
“They damaged the reputation of all five of us,” she said, referring to Carr, Dunfield, Hutchings, herself and J. Banks. “I was found innocent, but council took 15 days’ pay because they said I was rude during meetings.”