4 hours Ago By CBC
A Sarnia, Ont., city councillor who tried to intervene as his colleague hurled insults and slurs in an explosive outburst during a meeting says the incident was "completely embarrassing." During a budget meeting Tuesday, Sarnia city Coun.
Bill Dennis started ranting, first at staff and then at fellow councillors and the mayor when they tried to intervene. The discussion at the time was about the budget for consultants' fees, with Dennis entreating councillors to "cut it in half." "You're nothing but a bunch of sellouts," Dennis said.
As the conversation escalated, he called the mayor a "cokehead," a "damn crook" and telling him to "kiss my a--" and "f-- off." "You have destroyed this city," Dennis yells at one point. At points in the video, Coun.
Adam Kilner tries to intervene, and Dennis then turns his ire on him, saying he was a "joke" as a pastor and later using the homophobic slur "fruitcake." The meeting was put on a break that lasted nearly 30 minutes and when it resumed, Dennis was not present. Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley in a 2023 file photo.
(CBC News) "This has not happened in all my time as mayor, 36 years, but Coun. Dennis is expelled from this meeting," Mayor Mike Bradley said. "And he knows the way to get back into the meeting and that's to apologize to council and contact the clerk to do so.
" Kilner told Afternoon Drive host Matt Allen it's not the first time he's witnessed an outburst from Dennis — who is currently suing the city's CAO and has had his pay docked for his conduct in the past — but he had said he'd speak out sooner. Sarnia city councillor Bill Dennis was first elected to council on November 15, 2022. (Submitted: County of Lambton) "There is a basic sense of [decorum] that we should all have in public spaces around how we deal with other people," he said.
"A twig snapped in my brain that just said, 'I don't have to listen to this anymore.' "Our public does not deserve to be represented that way, you know? So that's where I am on this." Dennis told CBC that in hindsight, he wishes he had reacted differently.
"I wish I maybe didn't lose my cool and, and I certainly regret the profanity. I'm better than that," he said. "The citizens of Sarnia didn't deserve that.
But there's a lot of frustration that was sort of pent-up frustration and anger that was just unleashed." Dennis says he's frustrated by what he called "weak" decisions by Sarnia council on encampments, as well as the stagnating population and high crime and unemployment. When asked directly if he had apologized to the people he called names, Dennis said he had not — and he doubled down.
"I have zero respect for those people. I have oodles and oodles of respect for the citizens of Sarnia and by all means I would apologize to the citizens of Sarnia. "I certainly regret the vulgarity," he said, noting he's received notes of support.
"I stand 100 per cent by my statement that ...
the mayor has destroyed the city." But Kilner says the outburst undermines the work of council and draws focus and effort away from the work councillors are doing. "When we're spending our resources .
.. on somebody who's name calling, we're not spending our resources on lowering the budget.
We're not spending our resources on trying to make this community healthy and safe for everybody. We're not spending our resources on empowering people to improve our community. So that's where my problem lies.
" Speaking directly to Dennis, Kilner said "I'm your neighbour ...
we're trying to work towards the same goal.".
