Integrity commissioner complaint filed over mayor's remark at Black Education Fund event

Thestar.com
Oct. 15, 2021
Sabrina Gamrot

The saga over a slip of the tongue by Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown continues as an official complaint was filed with the city’s integrity commissioner.

Many attendees at the Aug. 22 Black Education Fund (BEF) event, celebrating the success of a number of Black students, heard Brown utter a slur during the online ceremony live-streamed to community members.

During his speech, many listeners heard him refer to Brampton as “brown town” in a verbal slip, though Brown and his office deny that's what he said and offered a number of explanations. The derogatory term is often associated with the diverse communities that live in the city.

The group said multiple calls for a public apologize have gone unanswered and an official complaint was filed with the commissioner Sept. 1.

Brown’s office declined to provide comment to the Brampton Guardian about the complaint or possible investigation.

David Bosveld, who filed the complaint, said Brown’s behaviour violated rule 15 under council’s code of conduct, which states “members shall conduct themselves with appropriate decorum at all times.”

His complaint goes further, saying retaliatory action was taken against him and others after they requested, during a WhatsApp group chat, the mayor publicly apologize to the BEF.

As members of the mayor’s Black Advisory council, Bosveld said he and three other members were removed from the WhatsApp chat group.

Frances Bradshaw, senior adviser to the mayor, said Bosveld can still participate in the advisory council through Zoom meetings and that the chat group was originally started for the mayor’s supporters during the 2018 municipal election.

Bosveld said election matters were never discussed and the chat group is entitled “Mayors Black Advisory.” He noted a screenshot of the group description that said “connecting Mayor Brown with the City of Brampton’s Black African and Caribbean Community issues news and events."

The complaint requests Brown apologize in council and that Bosveld and other members be reinstated to the chat group. Despite denying he said what was heard by Bosveld and others, Brown said he has apologized more than once in the WhatsApp group when the incident was raised during chat sometime after the event.

Some community members believe the mayor has been “gaslighting” them, refusing to acknowledge what the audience heard during the ceremony.

“I think his actions speak louder than his words. His gaslighting and disregards, his disrespect to those Black youths that even though the comment wasn’t directed at them, to downplay it, he created trauma and those traumas contribute to long-lasting effects,” said Christine Maclin, human rights director at Unifor and keynote speaker at the ceremony.

Maclin also said that an apology is not the “meat and potatoes” of the situation, but what Brown (and others in his office) can learn from the experience.

“I think it’s important to show allyship. We make mistakes, we all do, but it’s about acknowledging the impact,” she said.

As a result, Maclin lists recommitting to anti-racism work as a city and having an open conservation between the mayor and BEF members as next steps.

According to the city, the integrity commissioner reviews each complaint “in some fashion,” though not every complaint gets a full investigation.

At the time of this article's publication, the integrity commissioner had yet to respond to the Brampton Guardian, confirming if the complaint will proceed to a full investigation.