Reporter accused of harassment at Whitby, Ontario council disputes allegation

A Rebel News reporter accused of harassing a Whitby councillor following a committee meeting this week has released a video of the incident, saying he was merely “scrumming a public official.”

Police had to be called to Whitby’s Town Hall on Monday after a confrontation between Whitby Councillor Victoria Bozinovski and David Menzies of Rebel News, who is shown trying to follow the councillor after the meeting and being intercepted by security and told to leave the building.

“I’m just making sure you don’t bother the lady,” Menzies was told. “You’re chasing her, she said she didn’t want to talk to you (and) I want you to leave the building.”

Menzies, who has been arrested multiple times for alleged harassment of public officials, insisted in an email to INsauga “there was no harassment whatsoever” and that he was merely scrumming a public figure.

Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy, however, accused him of harassing Bozinovski and town staff “in a way that made them feel extremely uncomfortable.”

“This individual has a well-documented history of confrontational interactions with public officials, including behaviour that many – particularly female politicians – have found to be intimidating,” Roy said. “I will not tolerate any member of Whitby Council being made to feel unsafe at town hall.”

Roy said the issue is not about limiting media access and said the town welcomes media of all types and “respect the important role journalists play in covering both the successes and challenges in our community.”

“However, there is a clear line between legitimate journalism and conduct intended to provoke, intimidate, or harass – and in this case, that line was crossed.”

Council watcher Jessica Street, who appeared as a delegation at the meeting, spoke to Menzies and suggested Bozinovski “needed to be more open minded.”

Menzies was asking Bozinovski about Councillor Chris Leahy’s motion on the agenda to have staff review the impacts of the temporary foreign workers program on the local economy, a motion that never made the floor because of mandated time restrictions.

An attempt by Leahy to exclude companies that employ temporary foreign workers from receiving municipal contracts was declared out of order earlier this month by council, dismissed as an effort to “generate outrage, headlines, and social media engagement” by a council watcher and, most importantly, ruled a violation of the Ontario Human Rights code.

On the same day a Leahy motion calling on the federal government to remove Prince Andrew from the line of succession to the British throne was also ruled out of order.

A motion by Bozinovski to strengthen the language and threshold for the admissibility of motions based on whether they are “relevant” to the Whitby community to ensure that council’s deliberations “remain focused on matters that fall within the legislative mandate and direct responsibility of municipal government” did make it to the floor and was passed by a 7-2 vote.

A notice of motion by Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy on the “politically motivated misuse of office” by town councillors was still on the docket when time expired at 11 p.m. and will be heard at the next meeting.