Cambridge mayor and councillor make peace (with help)

The air of acrimony has lifted.

On Tuesday, Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig and city councillor Jan Liggett, who seemed like antagonists in the recent political past, went to breakfast. They voted together on the losing side of a 5-2 council decision. Liggett even complimented Craig’s oratory.

“I’m not going to say it better than Mayor Craig has stated it already,” Liggett said.

So what has changed things? Mediation.

Craig and Liggett recently turned to a mediator to help them settle their differences. A single recent session is all they needed, Liggett said.

A letter from the office of the integrity commissioner was given to council members this week.

“They both wish to advise that mediation has resulted in a resolution of these issues and they are pleased with the results,” the note from integrity commissioner Richard Russell read. “They are both committed to moving forward in honour of their positions for the benefit of the City of Cambridge.”

Craig declined to comment on the letter or the mediation with Liggett.

“Our agreement was we wouldn’t say anything,” Craig said. “So I’m going to stick to that.”

How did mediation come about? Liggett had filed a code of conduct complaint against Craig back in March. It was regarding “everything that’s been happening the last couple years,” Liggett said.

Liggett has been a persistent critic of the pedestrian bridge under construction in Galt. It’s been a pet project of Craig and her jabs clearly annoyed him in past meetings. A citizen accused Craig of a code of conduct violation for allegedly snubbing Liggett at a public function last March. However, an integrity commissioner investigation cleared Craig.

Only a year ago, Liggett burst into tears at a council session focused on her controversial attendance at a closed-door task force meeting.

“I got upset at one of the meetings because I was being accused of things,” Liggett said. “I was pretty traumatized.”

The code of conduct complaint, strictly against Craig, was launched.

The integrity commissioner, Liggett said on Wednesday, did an inquiry. But there was no final report or recommendation as both Craig and Liggett decided the matter could be handled through mediation. They worked together on the wording of the letter, she said.

“What is in that letter is 100 per cent the way we feel,” Liggett said.

“Neither one of us had wanted to look back at what had happened in the past. We wanted to make sure, going forward, the citizens could see that we were working the best interests of the community in our dealings with each other. We both wanted that.”

The mediator was a totally unbiased third party with no connections to anything, Liggett said. She found the process a “breath of fresh air.” The resolution is more than a political ceasefire, she believes.

“It’s not a truce because we’re not fighting a war against each other. We have differences of opinion. It’s however we voice those differences of opinion and we have to be respectful of each other. I think we realize that. We’ve come to an agreement that we actually like each other and we want to be better at what we do,” Liggett said.

“I’m happy with the new relationship going forward.”