An investigator who looked into alleged code of conduct violations by a Strait Shores councillor has recommended mediation for the council and staff of the municipality, along with training for Councillor Andy MacGregor. But a Mount Allison politics professor says the investigator’s report, and the bylaw under which Councillor Andy MacGregor is being censured, is problematic.
Andy MacGregor has been suspended from council since February 20, 2025, after an unusual resolution was passed by two other Strait Shores councillors, one of whom has since resigned.
The resolution cites letters of complaint from councillors about MacGregor’s behaviour at a February 10 public council meeting, and blames MacGregor for the resignation of former mayor Jason Stokes a few days after that meeting. It also says staff had “informally reported feeling harassed and intimidated by
Councillor MacGregor’s behaviour”. The resolution then calls for MacGregor to be barred from contacting municipal staff or council or entering the municipal hall until a third party investigation into possible code of conduct violations could be completed.
Human resources consultant Rollie King of MC Advisory completed that investigation this month, and CHMA has obtained a copy of his report. In it, King concludes that MacGregor did indeed violate three sections of the Strait Shores code of conduct.
‘Fractured’ but ‘repairable’ relationship
According to his report, King’s investigation consisted of interviews with staff and council members from Strait Shores — all except recently resigned mayor Jason Stokes, who did not respond to King’s request, but whose scathing letter of resignation is included in King’s report.
In his report, King says he, “observed a fractured relationship between Councillor MacGregor and Council and Staff.” But King also says it is his view that the relationship is “repairable.”
CHMA has reached out to Strait Shores acting mayor, Annamarie Boyd, as well as CAO Donna Hipditch, for their reactions to the report and the next steps to be taken by the municipality. Boyd says she won’t have a public statement on the matter until she has spoken to council and staff. And on Thursday, Hipditch said via email, “The next step is to meet with mediation and then we go from there.”
Councillor Andy MacGregor says he is prepared to accept the report and its recommendations. “I got up this morning and put my big boy pants on,” MacGregor told CHMA. “So I can… I’ll take that and move forward.”
King’s report found that MacGregor had violated three sections of the Strait Shores code of conduct. One of those sections says members of council must:
“Treat fellow Councillors, Administration/Staff and the public with respect, concern and courtesy and not engage in discrimination, bullying, harassment or use of derogatory language towards others.”
King didn’t cite any instances of bullying or derogatory language, but found MacGregor was disrespectful in his address to council on February 10, when he “strongly urged” members who were not willing to accept more transparency and accountability to “resign for the betterment of Strait Shores.”
Another section King cites as having been breached by MacGregor is one that says all councillors shall:
“Communicate and work with all fellow Councillors in an open, transparent and honest manner promoting a spirit of cooperation by listening to and respecting those opinions that may differ.”
That’s a section of the Code of Conduct that MacGregor says can cut both ways. “It’s funny how the same clause they’re using for, you know, offense, I’m using for defense,” says MacGregor.
“In my statement, I was giving my opinion, right?” says MacGregor. “I didn’t call anybody out, I didn’t mention names, I didn’t point the finger at anybody. I just said, this is how we should operate, and this is how we should govern. And if you don’t think you can do that, maybe you shouldn’t be here.”
The final violation identified by King is from another section of the Code of Conduct, which says that councillors must:
“Exercise their duties in an impartial manner, making decisions based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias or prejudice.”
King says that he found that MacGregor held some animosity towards the CAO, and also that he, “acknowledges that he has an objective – to make Council accountable and take back control from Staff.”
“To that extent” writes King, “he has not acted objectively.”
MacGregor says he has some difficulty with that criticism, considering he had just been elected to Strait Shores council in December on a platform of increasing transparency and accountability.
“People put me in that position to try and accomplish that, to bring that forward,” says MacGregor. “And so when I was given the opportunity and the ways and means to accomplish that objective, I was slapped with a code of conduct violation. And it’s like, well, hang on. That just doesn’t seem right.”
Codes ‘problematic’ for democratic municipal government
Geoff Martin is a political science professor and expert in municipal government. He has read the report by investigator Rollie King, as well as the Strait Shores code of conduct bylaw on which it relies. Martin says that although he thinks codes of conduct are needed and useful, there are issues with the way they are written in general.
“The kind of codes of conduct we’re seeing, which I think are a template that was written in Fredericton,” says Martin, “are clearly problematic and are probably written by someone who isn’t all that committed to the idea of municipal government as a democratic form of government.”
Martin points in particular to the section calling for councillors to be impartial and objective, and how King has interpreted MacGregor’s admitted agenda for transparency as a violation of that.
“There’s no rule against saying that, you know, I was sent here by people who are unhappy with the way the municipality is running, and I’m going to channel that unhappiness,” says Martin. “To basically say that, you know, you’re out of line for representing that part of the community, I think is wrong.”
Martin says that codes of conduct for elected councils must be written and interpreted differently than corporate codes, and should acknowledge the role of elected councillors as providing the vision and general steering of the values of the municipality.
“We have a councillor who’s been elected, has a reform agenda, is an outsider, and that’s his vision, right? He’s being told that’s a violation of the code of conduct, as though this is some kind of corporation… where the councillors are employees, and they have a duty of loyalty to the CAO, or a duty of loyalty to the mayor, or a duty of loyalty to the corporation,” says Martin. “And they can’t criticize it publicly. Well, of course they can. In a democratic municipal government, councillors are allowed to criticize each other. They’re allowed to criticize the conduct of the municipality.”
Concern raised about municipal staff ‘ignored’
Investigator Rollie King’s report specifically mentions MacGregor’s problematic relationship with CAO Donna Hipditch. King says he was told in interviews that both staff members felt MacGregor was “out to get” the CAO. MacGregor says that’s not his intention, and suggests that perception might come from a concern he raised back in June 2024, well before the by-election when he was elected to council.
“I approached all three councillors with a concern about a municipal staff member,” says MacGregor. “It was fully detailed, which is the proper way you’re supposed to go about everything. And it basically… there was no response. It was, I don’t know if you want to say it was swept under the carpet, or it was just ignored.”
MacGregor says that concern is still “hanging out there” unresolved, and wonders if “maybe that’s why people think I’m trying to get rid of people, because I see what I perceive as a wrongdoing, and I mention it. And now I’m perceived as ‘hating’.”
Tone policing?
King writes that his report and recommendations ultimately focus on MacGregor’s short time on council, although email and information requests shared with him by staff went back much farther, to 2023. King says the number and tone of those communications have contributed to a stressful work environment for staff, but that they were not directly relevant to the code of conduct complaint.
King writes in his report that he found MacGregor had “passion for improving local governance,” but that it was “misguided and his approach was doomed to fail. His objectives for stronger governance are laudable. His methods to achieve it were not.”
Martin says this could be akin to tone policing.
“It’s one thing to say I would not have done things exactly this way,” says Martin. “But then it’s another thing to say that the person should be sanctioned for having made those choices.”
‘Most’ willing to participate in mediation
King recommends that “all Staff and members of Council participate in a facilitated mediation to start the process needed to repair the relationship and level set on how Council and Staff work together.”
He says most of the councillors and staff he interviewed said they would be willing to participate.
Now that King’s report has been completed, MacGregor says he believes he may be able to return to the council table. The resolution that barred him from the municipal office was written to be in effect “until such time as an investigation is completed.” And with just three members of council left, the Strait Shores council can’t hold a meeting until MacGregor can return.
MacGregor says he has no issues with King’s recommendations, including one asking that he get training on the role of a councillors. Ultimately he’s focussed on returning to his role.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to work. I hold no animosity against anybody,” he says. “What’s done is done… Let’s move forward.”
