SUNDRE — The mayor has issued a public apology over what he called an erroneous assumption that all of the local fire department’s members were issued updated access codes to the hall following the departure of the former chief.
Terry Leslie, accompanied by all of his council colleagues and the municipality’s chief administrative officer as well as the director of corporate services, attended a closed-door meeting on Wednesday night with remaining members of the Sundre Fire Department and representatives from Behr Fire Services, a contractor that provides assistance in restructuring departments through difficult transitions.
Among the points of discussion raised during that meeting, he said during an interview after reaching out to The Albertan on Friday, Aug. 21, stemmed from the official statement that had been issued with his signature on it saying that all of the firefighters had received the updated door codes prior to the end of afternoon on Monday, Aug. 17.
“I made that statement as an assumption that they had those codes, and they were really upset, because some of those firefighters didn’t have those codes and I told them I would make a public apology,” said Leslie.
“I simply assumed that, and I didn’t confirm it, and I deeply apologize.”
The mayor said the municipality is further looking into what happened — whether an email went out, when it went out, as well as whom it went out to — and would be providing additional information as it becomes available.
“I’ll be reporting further on that next week.”
Ensuring clear, accurate communication is the municipality’s responsibility, he said.
“That’s on us. We have to do our part to make sure that if there’s a lack of trust between the firefighters, and council and administration, we got to get answers to them as to what took place.”
Although accepting and apologizing for his error, the mayor strongly condemned the behaviour of some of the people who gathered outside the hall to support the former chief during the closed-door meeting.
“When I looked at the group of people that were there, the vast majority of people there are the good people of Sundre and district who came to support the fire department and they had some questions and they wanted answers,” he said.
“(But) there were some folks that weren’t there to listen, they were there to hurl accusations and yell.”
Mayor Terry Leslie attempted to address the crowd shortly after 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19, and ended up yielding the loud speaker and leaving the hall after being drowned out by angry shouts. Simon Ducatel/MVP StaffWhen following the meeting with firefighters he attempted to address the crowd while the chief administrative officer returned to her vehicle, the mayor said he heard threats hurled at her.
“So, at that point, there is no hope in talking because this is a crowd that has a minority of people that are not there to listen, they’re there for a side show,” he said.
“The good people that were there from the community that wanted some of that information have reached out, we’ve talked, and they’re deeply appreciative of the fire department and deeply ashamed of the behaviour of the minority of people that turned it into a side show.”
Leslie also reiterated the municipality’s unwavering commitment to continue providing support to the Sundre Fire Department and the volunteers who still stand ready to serve.
“We want to be supportive of those dedicated firefighters that are stepping up and going to continue serving the community, because that’s why they got in the business in the first place,” he said.
“We’re deeply grateful for their continued service.”
