Trustee’s ‘this is war’ quip prompted sanctions
A previously confidential report is offering a glimpse into the unravelling relationships that led Hamilton public school board trustees to sanction Ward 5’s Carole Paikin Miller for a second time this year.
The March 29 sanctions came after trustees had already urged her to resign on March 4 for conduct found to be racist by an outside investigation into allegations by former student trustee Ahona Mehdi.
A new code of conduct report made public on Monday reveals the latest sanctions stem from a Sept. 8, 2020, private trustee phone session with the board’s lawyer that then-chair Alex Johnstone terminated after ruling Paikin Miller had breached confidentiality.
Several unidentified witnesses confirmed they heard a person talking in the background — the name is redacted, but all details point to it being her husband, MPP Paul Miller — as Paikin Miller voiced concerns about three trustees.
“Alex, this is war,” most witnesses heard Paikin Miller say as Johnstone ended the phone meeting, the report states.
The report doesn’t disclose the topic of the Sept. 8 meeting, but the CBC reported three weeks later that Paikin Miller had filed a formal code of conduct complaint against Cam Galindo, Maria Felix Miller and Paul Tut.
Paikin Miller’s complaint, which was dismissed in November, alleged their attendance at the Aug. 3 media conference where Mehdi alleged racist conduct by four unnamed trustees — later revealed to include Paikin Miller — showed they’d already made up their minds on the matter.
Johnstone filed an informal complaint against Paikin Miller the day after the Sept. 8 meeting, but the two couldn’t reach a resolution with the help of an outside mediator.
That triggered a formal investigation by then vice-chair Dawn Danko, who succeeded Johnstone as chair in December, and Flamborough trustee Penny Deathe.
Based on witness accounts, an interview with Johnstone and a written submission from Paikin Miller, the investigation found Paikin Miller breached confidentiality and directed words to the effect of “this is war” toward Johnstone.
The latter breached the code’s expectations of decorum and civil behaviour, the investigation concluded.
Trustees approved the recommended sanctions on March 29, asking Paikin Miller to formally apologize to the board for breaching confidentiality, apologize to Johnstone and the board for the disparaging remarks, and “to commit to creating a private space to participate in private session.”
If unable to do the latter, trustees advised her to use a headset if possible, warning further breaches may ban her from future private meetings.
The code of conduct report states that Paikin Miller’s written submission “suggested family members should be able to move about their home,” questioned meeting protocols and maintained the person in the background was asking about dinner.
Witnesses “confirmed” Paikin Miller initially denied the person was in the background before providing the dinner explanation, with two stating they could hear the person reiterating her words.