North Stormont councillor docked pay for giving speech while drunk, fights with residents

Adrian Bugelli, councillor for the Township of North Stormont, Ont. (Facebook)

Sanctions are being imposed on a councillor of an eastern Ontario township after he gave a speech at a community event while intoxicated and engaged in two separate physical fights with residents on the same day last year.

The Township of North Stormont Council voted in favour of imposing a 30-day pay suspension on Coun. Adrian Bugelli Tuesday evening, after officially receiving an integrity commissioner's report into the events.

Integrity commissioner Tony Fleming with Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP was called to investigate code of conduct complaints against Bugelli for his reported behaviour during the grand opening of the Moose Creek Recreational Hall on Sept. 30, 2023.

The complaints alleged Bugelli attended the event in his official capacity as councillor and made a speech about the new hall. Bugelli was said to be "extremely intoxicated" as the event progressed and was observed to be "consuming alcohol throughout the day," according to witnesses interviewed in the integrity commissioner's investigation.

The integrity commissioner was asked to find whether Bugelli violated a provision in the Code of Conduct that forbids members of council from performing official duties while impaired. Another section of the Code of Conduct requires members to "refrain from behaviour that constitutes as discrimination, intimidation, harassment, verbal abuse or the adverse treatment of others."

"We found as fact that the member was at the event in an official capacity as a member of council, and therefore that satisfied the requirement that he was performing a duty or carrying out a responsibility for the township and was intoxicated at the time," Fleming told councillors Tuesday evening.

The report says Bugelli was later involved in two separate physical fights with residents, though Code of Conduct violations were only found in one incident. In another fight, the report said he was defending himself from being attacked by several residents and was not found to have violated council bylaws.

"We find that with respect to the first fight, although the member didn't initiate the fight, there was an attempt to continue the fight by the member after being thrown to the ground. With respect to the second fight, we did not find that the member breached the code of conduct in that incident," Fleming said.

The integrity commissioner recommended the township's council impose a 30-day suspension of pay for two Code of Conduct violations for the "adverse treatment" of a resident and for appearing intoxicated in an official capacity. It is not clear whether Bugelli or other residents involved could face criminal charges.

Bugelli addressed council and the community prior to the vote.

"I'd like to begin by expressing my apologies and regret for my role in the unfortunate events that took place last year at the opening of the Moose Creek Recreational Hall. I should have done better and removed myself from the situation, which I failed to do," he said.

"My actions that evening were not acceptable. I specifically want to apologize to Moose Creek Rec volunteers for putting myself in a situation that distracted from the evening's celebrations of their hard work. ... I've learned from this mistake. For those who know me best, my family, friends, my colleagues, this was a mistake on my part but it was an isolated event and I will make sure this is not repeated in the future."

He thanked the integrity commissioner for his report and said he accepted the findings and the sanction he was facing. He also thanked the OPP for its investigation, saying police determined he did not instigate the events.

"With that being said, though, I accept my failure in not de-escalating. I should have never put myself in that situation," he said. "I hope my colleagues in the community will accept my apologies from last September's events and can see the work that I've done and will continue to do to regain your trust and respect. It starts now, by accepting responsibility, accepting the consequences, and doing better."

Bugelli, a father of two, was elected to the township's council in October 2022. He has served as an executive assistant and chief of staff to various MP's in Ottawa and currently works with Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry Conservative MP Eric Duncan, according to the township's website.

He also sits on various charitable and not-for-profit boards in the community. 

"This was an altercation that happened last year I think we are trying to put this behind us as we all saw Coun. Bugelli has owned this and apologized I think we have all been there. We are looking to move forward in a positive fashion," North Stormont Mayor François Landry told CTV News.

The report says the initial fight began after the event sometime between 9:45 and 10 p.m.

While the complainant alleged the councillor shoved him to the ground and struck him, Bugelli argued the resident initially shoved him to the ground in an "unprovoked" attack. The video footage did not include audio, making it unclear to investigators who provoked the fight.

"Video footage of this incident was reviewed. The video evidence shows that the Member and two other attendees are speaking and one of the attendees then aggressively shoves the Member who falls to the ground," the report said.

"After the Member is on the ground and the attendee who shoved him is some distance away, the Member gets up and aggressively moves towards and grabs the individual. The Member is held back and blocked from the individual by another attendee. The Member continues to point and make comments towards the individual and attempt to get past several men that are separating him from the individual."

"It is clear that the physical attack was not initiated by the Member. However, the Member’s evidence that this was a completely unprovoked attack also cannot be corroborated with the video footage," the integrity commissioner found.

The report then describes another fight the councillor got involved in with a separate resident at around 11 p.m. that evening. It was alleged in the complaint that Bugelli had fallen to the floor and the resident attempted to help him up. Bugelli then allegedly punched the resident in the face.

The councillor told investigators he was accosted by the resident who made several comments about him and the incident left him with a broken ankle.

Video footage shows the councillor talking with several people, before one of them grabs him and he falls to the ground. The video shows a second person approaching him and tries to pull him up by his shirt before being punched in the face by the councillor.

"We find that the Member did not initiate the physical attack. We note that the Member did attempt to punch the second individual, however, he appears to have done so in response to being pulled up to standing by his shirt," investigators found.

"It is not credible that the individual was attempting to 'help him up' as alleged in the Complaint. The Member does appear to be unable to get up which is consistent with his evidence that the altercation left him with a broken ankle."

Bugelli argued before the integrity commissioner that that he did not attend the event as a Member of Council but as a member of the Moose Creek community. The integrity commissioner did not agree.

"In investigations of this nature, it must be recalled that as leaders of the community and as elected officials, members of Council are held to a high standard when considering what constitutes permissible behaviour," the integrity commissioner said.

"We acknowledge that the Member may have been upset or aggravated by being shoved by a resident but note he is still governed by the Code of Conduct and expected to respond appropriately rather than engage in the same conduct and attempt to escalate or continue the altercation."

With files from CTV News Ottawa's Ted Raymond and Shaun Vardon