Integrity commissioner complaint filed against NOTL Library Board

Following the controversial firing of the chief librarian at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library, an integrity commissioner complaint has been filed against the board of directors for its handling of her dismissal and public comments made by its Chair in the aftermath that, according to the complaint, violated her privacy and Board policies. 

On September 18th, Tony Powell, long time Niagara-on-the-Lake resident and ardent supporter of former NOTL Chief Librarian Cathy Simpson, filed a complaint against the entire board of directors of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library—with a particular focus on Chairman Daryl Novak—to the municipality’s integrity commissioner. 

After serving as chief librarian for 11 years, Simpson was fired in March for writing a column in the local paper in support of Freedom to Read Week. 

She advocated for libraries to include books and materials that espouse ideas from every viewpoint, including those that “don’t conform to progressive agendas”, a practice according to her, that has become commonplace among library leaders and decision makers. 

“We ask our colleagues to ensure ‘Freedom to Read Week’ does not become ‘Freedom to Read What We Decide You Should Read Week’,” she wrote. 

Simpson's column raised the ire of local resident Matthew French, who took issue with her reference to a group called Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR). 

French wrote in response that the organization is nothing but a “slickly marketed” group that “cloaks itself in the language of fighting oppression while actually working to promote it.”

French claimed Simpson’s column endorsed right wing views that were dangerous to the library. He did not feel the library should have any association with FAIR.

At the time of Simpson’s firing, Novak spoke to The Lake Report about why she had been fired. He is quoted saying: 

“Other than content related to FAIR the balance of (Simpson’s) article, you can’t really criticize,” Novak said.

He acknowledged, “Cathy was highly regarded and a lot of people are very fond of her.” But when Simpson wrote her article as CEO of the library, it sparked “a lot of controversy” for the organization and after The Lake Report published a letter from French criticizing her, “all hell broke loose”.

Niagara-on-the-Lake Library Board Chair Daryl Novak (left) and Cathy Simpson.

(Evan Loree/The Lake Report File Photo)

The implication was that what she wrote is actually the library’s position, “and it wasn’t,” he said. 

In his complaint, Powell alleges the Library Board and Novak breached several sections of the Code of Conduct board members are meant to follow, including provisions that ensure members act with “honesty, integrity, accountability and transparency” and as representatives of the Town they must “recognize the importance of their duties and responsibilities, take into account the public character of their function, and maintain and promote the public trust in the Town”; and that board members must “respect the individual rights, values, beliefs and personality traits of any other person.”

“The Library upholds the right of the individual to access information, even though the content may be controversial, unorthodox or unacceptable to others,” Powell writes.

He takes particular issue with statements made by Novak in a March 21st article published in The Lake Report, in which he was quoted: "[T]here never was any issue about Ms. Simpson's right to free speech as an individual. However our rights to free speech have to be curtailed somewhat when we associate ourselves with an organization”—a reference to Simpson’s mention of FAIR in her column. 

FAIR describes itself as: "a multi-discipline, nonpartisan organization dedicated to defending civil rights and liberties and promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity. As an advocate for open discourse and debate, FAIR is committed to celebrating our shared interests and values and advancing Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of equality for aII-without exception".

In the same issue of The Lake Report, Novak explained library staff issued a letter to the board saying they were "uncomfortable" with the piece and setting out their own concerns with what Simpson wrote. 

"The staff are not behind her and she basically lost the confidence of the staff,” he said. “The way Cathy was interpreting our policies and what she wanted to do to balance the collection was at odds with what the Board feels and what the staff feel in relation to our policies, our statements on, our mission vision and values, about equity, diversity, and so forth.” 

Powell argues in his complaint to the integrity commissioner that these statements are political in nature, similar to Simpson’s column which the Board used to justify firing her. 

“These public statements by the Chair of the Board were of a political nature and an indication of his bias and a desire to censor books based on that bias in breach of the Library's own above referred to policies,” Powell writes. “This also raises a concern that the Board through the Chair has caused the removal of books that were purchased with public money based on a bias in contravention of the Library's policies.

“Ms. Simpson was fired for espousing the very policies that have been breached by the Board.”

Board policy also dictates that the partnership between the Board and CEO is “rooted in mutual trust and respect, (and) is crucial to the proper governance and overall well-being of the library. In the same way the library board relies on the CEO for the information, professional expertise and administrative support it needs to be successful, the success of the library CEO depends on support from the board.”

Powell argues that, “On any interpretation this would be considered as challenging times. Rather than providing its moral support to their CEO, as required by the libraries express policy, the Board jumped on French's bandwagon and suspended and then fired Cathy Simpson without cause and without notice.” 

He contends this not only constituted a breach of Library Policy, but also constituted a breach of the Code of Conduct which states: “Members shall, among other things, respect the individual rights, values, beliefs and personality traits of any other person.”

His complaint estimates the damages from this wrongful dismissal will result in the waste of up to $250,000 of taxpayer money when all is said and done, which is approximately 25 percent of the library's annual taxpayer funded budget. This represents poor governance, while he asserts the Library Board has embarrassed the Town on a national, even international level.

The complaint states that investigation is warranted to determine whether the Board should have taken a more reasoned, negotiated approach, rather than firing Simpson without notice and without cause which invited a wrongful dismissal lawsuit. When certain staff members (who reacted sympathetically to the content of French's letter to the editor) threatened to quit, should their resignations have been accepted instead?

The complaint also requests an investigation into the Board Chair’s comments in a local newspaper disclosing Ms. Simpson's private and personal information, including her age, length of service and approximate income.

The Town recently retained a new Integrity Commissioner, Principles Integrity (Janice Atwood-Petkovski and Jeffery Abrams). According to the Town’s website their job is to: Receive and review complaints about breaches of ethical behaviour including conflicts of interest matters, and to seek an appropriate resolution in each case; and  where it is in the public interest to do so, conduct formal investigations with findings and recommendations provided to Council or the applicable local board.

When asked why he filed his complaint Powell said, ”the council refused to deal with the issue so the Integrity Commissioner was the next step.”

During a board meeting earlier this month there were approximately 15 members of the public in attendance including Mr. Powell, Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa, Councillor Erwin Wiens and Cathy Simpson.

Following the public portion of the library board meeting The Pointer spoke to Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa about the filing of the Integrity Commissioner complaint and Daryl Novak’s comments to the media.

Zalepa said he had not yet read the complaint.

When the Pointer asked Zalepa if Mr. Novak’s public comments about why Cathy Simpson was fired amounted to a breach of her privacy and in-camera rules, he said, “I am not so sure that happened.”

He later said, “Council has full confidence in the board and their decisions.”

Asked if Novak should be reprimanded for violating Simpson’s rights when he made the reasons for her firing public, Zalepa said, “At this point I don’t have anything to suggest that's the case.”  

Novak’s failure to keep confidential information private is one of the issues included in the Integrity Commissioner complaint filed by Powell.

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