Showdown momentarily delays – but doesn’t stop – Stratford council meeting

Drama is usually reserved for the Stratford Festival stage, but on Thursday night, it played out at Stratford City Hall.

It all came down to an ongoing war of words between Mike Sullivan and city council.

Back in February, Sullivan and Barb Shaughnessy were temporarily banned from council meetings after they allegedly used “unreasonable, inappropriate and harassing” language towards council and staff that was “known, or ought reasonably to have been known as unwelcome.”

The city also cited a number of issues with Sullivan, as well as a previous confrontation between Shaughnessy and a council member outside of chambers.

Both Sullivan and Shaughnessy said the allegations were untrue.

“I addressed the report,” Shaughnessy explained. “I did not address or send any insults to anybody.”

As a result of those interactions, council issued a three-month ban, in which Sullivan and Shaughnessy were prohibited from attending public meetings.

That, however, didn’t stop Sullivan.

He decided to defy the ban and showed up to council chambers on May 28 to speak about a proposed housing development at the former Krug factory site.

Mike Sullivan at the Stratford city council meeting on May 28, 2024. (Jeff Pickel/CTV Kitchener)

Mayor Martin Ritsma had a private conversation with Sullivan in the viewing gallery. When Sullivan was asked to leave, he refused. Ritsma then told the waiting crowd that the meeting would be cancelled.

Some residents voiced their frustration that night, even yelling “cowards” at the mayor and council.

In a statement, Ritsma explained: “To maintain decorum in the council chamber and respectful discourse, a number of policies are in place, including the Respectful Workplace policy. In the event that policy is not adhered to, there are steps to be followed, including a temporary suspension from attending city meetings in person.”

Stratford Mayor Martin Ritsma announces the early adjournment of the May 28, 2024 council meeting.

Sullivan then showed up for another council meeting which also ended early.

Ritsma’s responded to that incident, saying in his statement: “Unfortunately, due to contraventions of recent temporary suspensions, [the last] council meeting was the third meeting to be disrupted and ultimately rescheduled. These disruptions are impacting the effectiveness of council and committee meetings and procedures, and most critically, the work of the city.”

Sullivan called council’s decision an overreaction.

"This is a weaponized policy that the city has discovered that [it] can get rid of people who are asking embarrassing facts about the city that they don't want revealed," he said.

On June 20, council took the ban one step further and Stratford Police issued an official trespass notice to Sullivan.

“[He] has been advised that if he wishes to dispute the notice, he should contact legal counsel,” they explained. “Police will continue to enforce all valid trespass notices through an educational approach with enforcement being a last resort.”

Mike Sullivan holds an official Trespass to Property Notice sent to him by the city. June 27, 2024. (Jeff Pickel/CTV News)

David Donnelly, a lawyer advising Sullivan and Shaughnessy, also takes issue with the ban.

“You can’t ban people from city hall or the city square if they want to protest, if they want to object, even if they want to be mean.”

The trespass order, he said, is also highly questionable.

“Certainly, to get yourself banned from city hall, you have to do something quite extraordinary. You have to threaten employees, you have to engage in a physical altercation. The bar is set quite high. What is alleged is that Mike Sullivan was critical of city staff and council, which in my view, is perfectly reasonable.”

Thursday's council meeting

Sullivan decided that, despite the ban, he would also attend Thursday night’s council meeting.

He spoke to CTV News before it got underway.

“My intention is to come to council and tell them what I think about this development.”

When he arrived at city hall, security guards tried to stop Sullivan, but he went into the building anyway.

"A security guard isn't going to force me out, though he did try," he said.

Mike Sullivan was momentarily held back before the June 27, 2024 council meeting in Stratford.

Despite the presence of Stratford Police, they made no move to remove Sullivan.

“‘Are you here to enforce that? What’s the plan?’” Sullivan claimed he asked officers. “She said: ‘No, we’re not here to enforce that.’ I said: ‘So, what’s the plan?’ She said: ‘If you come in and sit down, my understanding is the mayor will shut down the meeting.’”

Mike Sullivan speaks with a Stratford Police officer before the June 27, 2024 council meeting. (Jeff Pickel/CTV News)

Sullivan and the mayor then talked privately and Sullivan agreed to leave if Ritsma asked him to.

Sullivan received a round of applause from his supporters as he walked out of council chambers.

Mike Sullivan at the June 27, 2024 council meeting in Stratford, before leaving at Mayor Martin Ritsma's request. (Jeff Pickel/CTV News)

Ritsma then addressed those in attendance, explaining that Sullivan was told he could he could leave his comments with city staff and they would be read into the record.

“The city thinks the have this newfound right to ban whoever they like for frivolous and vexatious reasons,” Sullivan said. “They don’t have any real reasons and they manufactured facts that weren’t true in order to justify what they did.”

The mayor feels they could come to a resolution.

“We can listen and learn, from maybe an outside agency that comes in and helps navigate,” Ritsma suggested.

Sullivan said, if they can’t reach a compromise, he isn’t opposed to bringing his concerns to the Ombudsman's office.

Sullivan’s council meeting ban, meanwhile, is set to end next week.