REGINA - Mayor Sandra Masters responded to questions on Wednesday about a letter delivered to City Hall signed by 100 women and non-binary residents, who called the mayor out for remarks about "sexism" last November.
“I respect the fact that they have to have that opinion. But I also respect the fact that I have an opinion,” said Masters in response to the letter.
She added “the notion that the deep concerns around houselessness are mutually exclusive, the treatment of council’s employee — I don't agree with that notion that somehow they're mutually exclusive.”
The mayor reacted to a letter signed by 100 women and non-binary residents was sent to the Mayor, which called out the mayor for alleging there were “tones of sexism” behind a court application by Councillors Andrew Stevens and Dan LeBlanc directed at City Manager Niki Anderson during the budget process last November and December.
Masters had made that remark at a media scrum at City Hall in November immediately after the court application was filed. The court application had sought to reinstate a line item on funding to end homelessness in the city budget, which was the basis of a council resolution that had been approved in June, 2022.
The letter delivered this week to City Hall continued to support LeBlanc and Stevens for their stance on that issue.
“It is not sexist to expect that our elected officials remain accountable to their commitments,” the letter stated. “It is not sexist to expect that unelected city officials follow the direction of elected representatives when making life-and-death decisions that deeply affect vulnerable residents of our city.”
The letter came just two days after a council vote to remove LeBlanc from an appointment to sit on the Community and Social Impact Committee board, with councillors citing a loss of trust in LeBlanc due to his role in filing the court application against Anderson last year.
Masters was still critical of the court application in her remarks to reporters Wednesday, saying the court action undermined Anderson’s position.
“I think it would be reasonable to expect that that action would undermine her reputation in a new community, in a new role, and in her ability to be successful in that role. And so my opinion of that hasn't changed.”
When asked if she still believed there were “tones of sexism” behind the court action from LeBlanc and Stevens, Mayor Masters responded yes.
“I think my exact language was there was ‘tones of sexism.’ And so, again, when it's two male members of council who had an alternative route, who clearly broke from council in that behavior, in that tactic. There are two males in a position of power… Frankly we all experience privilege of power as an elected official or in senior executive leadership in the city. That's completely fair. But that doesn't mean we treat our employee in a way, especially two men — it's reasonable to assume that that undermines your reputation, and it undermines her ability to be successful in a role in a new community. I just think that the attention it's garnered has been quite detrimental, and to say a massive distraction would be an the understatement from the good has been undertaken, as well as a massive amount of work that needs to be undertaken.”
Mayor Masters also said there were no plans for her to meet with the group who sent the letter to the city.
When asked if there was a need for a formal internal Human Resources investigation into accusations of harassment of Anderson, Masters said HR issues were confidential and she could not speak to it. But if there was a resolution or finding that would be made public, if that is what happens.
When asked if she had filed a harassment complaint against Stevens or LeBlanc, City Manager Anderson declined to answer, but she did respond to allegations reported in the media that her recent press release on Feb. 8 regarding the actions of LeBlanc and Stevens “was done in some sort of covert way to try and produce complaints with the Ethics and Integrity board.
“I think that that was a really horrible thing to say in public, ground on nothing. And that was not my intent at all. My intent was that I was tired of not having a voice and having everyone speak for me.”
