Pamela Wolf, Ward 5 councillor for the City of Cambridge, is facing an impaired driving charge after a two-vehicle crash on Friday.
The charges were laid following a collision shortly after 9:30 p.m. at Fountain and Victoria Streets in Breslau. No one was injured in the collision.
Waterloo Region police say the 62-year-old has been charged with impaired driving. Her vehicle was also seized for seven days and her licence suspended for 90 days.
Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig says Wolf spoke with him after the incident, but maintains she is an “exemplary” councillor and will continue her duties.
Bob Williams, a retired ethics professor and municipal advisor, says Wolf shouldn’t be penalized, because her job with the city does not involve driving.
“It may create some difficulties in the community of, you know, ‘What were you really thinking?’ But that in itself is not enough reason to say, no you should step aside.”
After commenting on Monday, Wolf is no longer speaking to the media on the advice of her lawyer, and neither are other city councillors.
Wolf is also not the first public official to face similar charges, a Toronto councillor spoke out after being charged with similar offences last month.
Under the guidelines of the Municipal Act, it’s up to each municipality to create a code of conduct for councillors, but Cambridge does not have one in writing.
Williams says “It probably is not a bad idea to have some viewpoint at a corporate level on how those are handled.”
