Accusations of secrecy and disrespect dominated Amherstburg council Tuesday after two councillors met privately with Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens to discuss the town’s policing future.
The debate prompted Mayor Michael Prue to introduce a motion asking the in-camera direction council provided on policing be made public at its regular meeting July 13.
Mayor demands transparency
“I’m more than happy to talk about this whole thing,” Prue told council. “But I’m asking council not to be running around … making secret deals or going to meet in private with Dilkens (to see) what can be done when this council has said no.”
“Some people on this council have been doing that and when it all comes out, I’m going to name them (and) what they have done to undercut this council, and the very difficult decisions we’ve had to make.”
Background of the dispute
The dispute stemmed from a recent meeting involving Coun. Linden Crain, Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb and Dilkens, who also serves as chair of the Windsor Police Services Board.
Just more than a year after Amherstburg council approved a five-year renewal of its contract with the Windsor Police Service in late 2023, the City of Windsor advised the town it wanted out at the end of its term Jan. 1, 2029.
“This has been a contentious issue, not just in this council, not even in just the last council, but the one before that,” Prue said. “(I) told then-mayor DiCarlo and Dilkens what a bad idea I thought they were making and how it wasn’t good for the town.”
Prue has not changed his stance on what he called a bad deal.
“It was a bad deal then, it’s a bad deal now, and the reason it’s a bad deal now is because Dilkens sent us a very terse memo telling us they (the city) didn’t want anything more to do with this town.”
Council divided
In August, the town cut off talks to renew the contract with Windsor over the city’s refusal to give the town a voting seat on the Windsor Police Services Board.
Several councillors said Tuesday that decision should be respected.
Coun. Don McArthur said Windsor, not Amherstburg, chose to end the agreement.
“They pulled the plug,” McArthur said. “They walked out on us like four hungry children and a crop in a field and we are supposed to chase after them and spend staff time, staff money, council time, council money? All these conversations on Facebook chasing a ghost that left us high and dry — no, no, no, no.”
“If they have a deal they want to make … you come to us and you present the deal to us.”
Coun. Peter Courtney said council twice debated whether to continue discussions with Windsor police during closed-session meetings and reached the same conclusion each time.
He said learning about the meeting with Dilkens through media reports gave the impression some councillors were attempting to revisit a decision council had already made.
“(That) was the most disrespectful thing that could have been done,” Courtney told council.
