More than a month after the attack involving Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell at a grocery store, a woman he attacked at a party 16 years ago is worried about the Municipality’s lack of transparency.
On April 22, in a Facebook post, Kenny Bell said he was about to run when a man approached saying he wanted to fight it. The man allegedly punched her in the chest. According to the mayor, the man fled after he retaliated by punching him in the face with his left hand.
After examining the matter, the Iqaluit City Council decided that the mayor had not violated the city’s code of conduct during this incident.
The Regulation relating to the code of ethics of municipal councilors (New window)Iqaluit sets out the behaviors expected of elected officials when representing the City Council and interacting with each other, the community and City employees.
Under this code, municipal councilors must treat all members of the community with integrity and fairness, without offending or embarrassing any person or group.
Conviction for assault
Former Iqaluit resident Jillian MacIsaac, who now lives in New Brunswick, said the incident reminds her of the day the mayor, her ex -husband at the time, attacked her in Iqaluit in 2006.
He said he was attending a campfire organized with friends for Canada Day when the incident happened. According to him, Kenny Bell grabbed him by the throat and knocked him to the ground after he tried to meddle in a dispute between him and another man.
To this day I still have a scar on my lipargument by Jillian MacIsaac.
Court documents, obtained by the CBC, show that Kenny Bell was granted parole and sentenced to one year probation on May 15, 2007 after pleading guilty to an attack on Jillian MacIsaac on July 2, 2006.
This criminal record is the only one appearing under Kenny Bell’s name in the Nunavut Court of Justice, which means he met the conditions of his probation. Among other things, she had to complete 72 hours of community service, get alcohol counseling and not have contact with Jillian MacIsaac and two other people.
The mayor of Iqaluit declined to comment on the matter and denied our interview requests.
The Nunavut Court of Justice, for its part, indicated that it did not hold a transcript or audio recording the day Kenny Bell pleaded guilty. Court documents do not provide details of the attack.
The lack of transparency from the City, according to the victim
Jillian MacIsaac believes the recent attack involving the mayor in Iqaluit has raised some questions. In particular, he fears that the city council has only part of the story to take a public position.
In a statement on April 29, Deputy Mayor Solomon Awa decided that the code of ethics for councilors was not violated during the incident.
The City denied our two interview requests, arguing that the Deputy Mayor did not Nothing more to add. He also did not clarify how the analysis was conducted and who conducted it.
There should be more transparency of what happened and how the decision was madebelieves Jillian MacIsaac.
With information from Liny Lamberink
Source: Radio-Canada
