Prince post was ‘toxic environment’: Mitchell

from Marguerite La Haye, The Sault Star

Workplace bullying leaves an employee physically and emotionally drained and should be nipped in the bud.

That message came from Ann Mitchell, Prince Township’s administrator, who resigned earlier this month to move on to a “good career opportunity” in another municipality.

Mitchell said in interview that she had been bullied by “a few disgruntled individuals who are trying to intimidate the township to serve their own purposes.”

She was quick to add that her new position represents an advancement, not a retreat.

All the same, she hopes council will enforce tight behavioural guidelines in future, so that her successor is treated differently.

“Over the past few months, it’s been a very toxic environment, and as is the case with most bullying, you have to stand up to them,” said Mitchell, who replaced Rachel Tyczinski, the former administrator, in 2005.

Mitchell explained that most of her time in Prince Township was fulfilling, marred only by occasional problems that are part of the job.

But tension spiked rapidly last October, after council voted four to one to prohibit injured firefighter Don Mousseau from returning to light duty with the volunteer fire department, citing legal and safety concerns.

Coun. Ken Lamming, the fire chief at the time, voted against his fellow councillors and actively campaigned to win Mousseau’s return. Some of the firefighters left the department, and others said they would follow if Mousseau was not reinstated.

Word spread through the fire department that Mitchell had misled the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board about Mousseau’s situation out of spite, after Mousseau had loudly harangued her over an unrelated issue.

Finally, the protracted discord left the fire department with only four members, and earlier this month, the township had to ask the Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services Department to handle fire calls in Prince.

Though Mitchell did not mention Lamming during the interview, she answered “yes” when asked if she thought the firefighters had been deliberately fed false information about Mousseau’s departure.

She noted too that her personal and professional reputation had been tarnished by stories that circulated via some local online media.

“That was unfortunate, one-sided journalism,” she said.

Though Mitchell was not at liberty to discuss the content of recent closed sessions, she admitted that some had been loud and stressful, and one had left her so shaken that township lawyer Paul Cassan had escorted her home to assure her safety.

What Mitchell regrets most, however, is that the “disgruntled individuals” have turned the Mousseau affair into a headline-grabber that has overshadowed the township’s many successes.

“The majority of council is very progressive,” she said, pointing to the adoption last year of the new strategic plan prepared by Antoinette Blunt, of Ironside Consulting Services, Inc., who volunteered her time, and now being implemented by Margaret Lacourciere, the community economic development officer.

“She’s doing a fabulous job. We’ve got a lot of work done in the last few months with Margaret at the helm,” Mitchell said.

As well, she praised council’s decision to work with Bill Wierzbicki of Planning Advisory Services to bring the 1983 Official Plan into compliance with the Planning Act of Ontario and the revised Provincial Policy Statement. “Currently, under the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, we should have it done every five years. Next is our zoning bylaw,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell won’t be around to see all these goals achieved, as her last working day is May 1.

She added that she’s going to miss all the township’s volunteers, especially those at the library, just down the hall.

“(They) were willing to find me something good to read, or bring me something to read. That was the best part,” Mitchell said.