The lingering drama between Regina city’s two councilors and the city manager has unveiled a new episode as the Mayor of the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Sandra Masters has accused Daniel LeBlanc and Andrew Stevens of harassment in the form of sexism and intimidation.
In a swift reaction, the two city councilors are now calling on a provincial investigation to clear their names.
Recall that last June, City council agreed to $24 million in funding to end homelessness in Regina. But when the city unveiled its proposed 2023/2024 budget in 2022, homelessness funding was excluded.
City manager Niki Anderson had at a press conference in February said “Solving homelessness, I don’t think anyone has actually ever done that or put a monetary cost to it”.
According to reports, a lawsuit was filed by LeBlanc, who is also a lawyer, on behalf of Stevens against Anderson after the funding was allegedly withheld.
City Manager averred that the lawsuit took away any opportunity for the city to have conversations about what could be done to solve homelessness.
Harping on the development, Alysia Johnson with Rally for Homelessness said “The community asked them to stick their necks out and advocate the way that they did”.
“Regardless of what’s going on at the end of the day in the political world, it’s really the women who are sleeping cold on the streets tonight who pay the ultimate price.”
“I will not ever be alone with the councillors that sued me because I need another presence to make sure that things aren’t distorted,” said Anderson at the February conference.
In her words, Councilor LeBlanc has been dishonest in past conversations.
On her part, Mayor Sandra called the lawsuit disgusting and claimed it contained tones of sexism.
It was gathered that the case was dismissed in Regina court and no new additions were included in the 2023/2024 budget regarding funding for homelessness.
An open letter signed by over 100 Regina residents was sent to Masters and Anderson, following the city’s refusal to address homelessness in the budget and the recent harassment claims.
In part, the letter read “It is not sexist to expect that our elected officials remain accountable to their commitments”.
“Ending houselessness is feminist. Sheltering women in positions of power from discomfort at the expense of women for whom the consequences of their inaction are lethal, is not.”
It was learnt that Johnson and Rally with Homelessness were part of the signees on the letter supporting the councillors.
Johnson said “To try to deflect and turn this into an issue about sexism, we need to get back to the basics here”.
“This is about protecting women and protecting community. To protect women at one level at the expense of another is not okay.”
As of the time of filing this report, Johnson said there has been no response yet from Anderson or Masters yet on the contents of the letter.
Councilor LeBlanc said “It’s humbling to get a letter of support like that from a hundred-plus leading feminist women and non-binary people.
“It’s really heartening to (see) that in their view, an informed one, that as far as feminism goes, councillor Stevens and I are on the right track addressing houselessness.”
The councilor stated that he has left messages with a provincial occupational health and safety investigator to see if they’ll look into the recent harassment claim.
He said “If they are seriously claiming harassment, which I dispute, I see no basis of, that should be looked into by someone who has no connection to the city”.
He continued that he is completely open to having the matter investigated and seeing if previous actions at city council meetings classify as harassment.
It is imperative to note that the City of Regina has a harassment policy applicable to city employees, which includes the city manager.
The city said in this instance, “It’s unlikely the Harassment Policy would be the governing policy, as this policy does not apply to City Council members. City Council is governed primarily by The Code of Ethics Bylaw.”
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