EDITOR’S NOTE — Aug. 24, 2026: The Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley issued a procedural clarification Aug. 21 regarding the council vote described in this story. During the Aug. 20 special council meeting, the vote was initially declared tied, with two members in favour, two opposed and one abstaining. Mayor Brant Burrow then cast what was treated at the meeting as the deciding vote in favour. The township subsequently determined that, under its procedural bylaw, the abstention was required to be recorded as a vote in the negative. The correct result was therefore 3-2 against the motion, meaning it was defeated.
The township said it will correct the official record at the next regular council meeting. As a result, it will not create the proposed online register of integrity commissioner reports or publish the report on its website beyond its inclusion in the publicly available council agenda.
The original story below reflects what occurred and was reported at the Aug. 20 meeting.
Coun. Rob Smith will lose 30 days’ pay after Elizabethtown-Kitley council accepted the integrity commissioner’s recommended penalty during a special meeting Thursday night, Aug. 20.
Integrity Commissioner Tony Fleming found Smith breached the township’s code of conduct by telling staff and members of the public that he intended to fire three senior employees if elected mayor and by disparaging their professional reputations.
Smith, who is running for mayor against fellow councillor Henry Oosterhof, was absent from the meeting.
Coun. Eleanor Renaud argued the recommended penalty was insufficient.
“Thirty days isn’t enough,” she said. “It’s not even a slap on the wrist. It’s nothing.”
Renaud said the effect of Smith’s comments was particularly serious in a small municipality.
“We’re a really small community. Everybody knows everybody,” she said. “When you disparage staff in front of the entire township, it makes things really difficult for them to do their jobs in the future.”
“Quite frankly, he’s been on council long enough. He should have known better than to do such a thing. And he’s running for a leadership position.”
Renaud also referred to Smith’s previous conduct around the council table.
“This is just, he just got caught this time,” she said. “Somebody had said they had enough.”
Coun. Dan Downey urged council not to go beyond Fleming’s recommendation, noting Smith had publicly acknowledged making a mistake.
“I read an article that quoted Coun. Smith yesterday, the CBC article, and he’s acknowledged that it was a mistake,” Downey said. “He regrets it. He wants to clean the slate.”
“Anything more, especially because it’s an election, might be perceived as over the top,” Downey said. “We do place a lot of faith in the integrity commissioner, and I think going beyond what he is recommending is not warranted.”
Fleming told council the maximum penalty permitted under the Municipal Act is a 90-day suspension of pay. He selected 30 days because this was the first report involving Smith in which he recommended a financial penalty.
“There are behaviours out there that are far more egregious than this behaviour, but this behaviour still is significant,” Fleming said.
“I chose a penalty that’s a third of the maximum. I felt that was an appropriate and reasonable penalty in the circumstances.”
Council approved the 30-day suspension.
Council then debated how the report should be made public.
Renaud wanted it clearly accessible on the township’s website.
“Putting it on our website is the least we can do so that the public knows,” she said.
She initially suggested placing it in the election section, but Fleming advised against tying the report directly to the campaign.
“This is not a report about the election or related to the election,” Fleming said, recommending it be posted with other integrity commissioner material.
Council voted to create a dedicated section on the township’s website where the public can find integrity commissioner reports. The vote was tied until Mayor Brant Burrow voted in favour.
“In resolving to break the tie in the affirmative, it was to treat things regardless of the election … equally and fairly,” Burrow said.
“I think it’s fair that there be a particular area where people know they can go and take a look at a record of integrity commissioner investigations, period.”
Fleming also told council the report had to be dealt with before the municipal election blackout period began Aug. 21.
“Had council not dealt with this report tonight, council would have been precluded from dealing with this report until after the election,” he said.
The municipal election is Oct. 26.
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