A man and a woman were arrested in Nanaimo council chambers this week in what Mayor Leonard Krog called an “embarrassing” incident reflecting a growing problem with incivility across the country.
“The lack of civility, the rudeness. It’s a worrisome trend.”
The man had fired insults at the mayor at Monday’s council meeting in what Krog said Wednesday was a farcical disruption that wasted staff time and taxpayers’ money.
The episode was upsetting for others at the meeting, including staff, he said.
The two were arrested and taken out of council chambers, then released without charges, Nanaimo RCMP said.
Krog pointed to Stratford, Ont., where a scheduled Tuesday council meeting had to be rescheduled after a local critic, who is banned from meetings, showed up with supporters.
In September, Langford council amended its code of conduct policy during a raucous meeting where proceedings stopped for close to 20 minutes after a man charged the podium and began yelling.
At a February Nanaimo council meeting, a man shouted comments and held up a sign saying something about a gas chamber. Another placard said: “Bribed or blackmail.” It wasn’t clear what that meant. When that meeting ended, a man approached Coun. Tyler Brown, warning: “You need to watch your back.”
Krog said it’s extremely disappointing to see “very bad extreme behaviour” at council meetings.
The current and previous council have worked hard to restore civility and model respectful behaviour, he said.
Nanaimo became notorious for infighting among council members and problems with senior staff prior to 2018, when there was a major council turnover and some staff departed.
The incident on Monday began after a man dressed as a king and a woman playing his royal adviser performed what they said was a satire about democracy.
Next up was the man who ended up being arrested. He started by “respectfully” asking Krog to step down as meeting chair during his presentation.
Krog replied that he “respectfully” declined.
The man asked if any council members would make a motion for Krog vacate the chair. There was no response.
He asked Krog to reset the clock to give him five minutes to speak, as is allotted to each delegation. Krog told the man he had three and a half minutes remaining.
The man berated Krog, saying he had been interrupted at a previous meeting. He made allegations about Krog’s conduct that were not backed up. The man’s microphone was cut off when his allotted time was up, but he raised his voice and continued speaking.
Krog asked the man to stop speaking and to leave council chambers but he remained at the podium. The RCMP were called and took away the man and a woman supporter.
Krog said that the city may have to change its procedure bylaw for delegations.
No one has been officially banned from attending meetings, but another man who hurled a slur at a staff member was sent a warning letter, the mayor said.
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