Councillors vote to reprimand Clarke Kelly over daycare incident last summer

Ottawa city councillor Clarke Kelly in an undated photo. (Clarke Kelly/Facebook)

Ottawa city councillors have voted to reprimand West-Carleton March Coun. Clarke Kelly after the city's integrity commissioner found he violated the Code of Conduct following an altercation with a local daycare owner and staff last summer.

Integrity commissioner Karen Shepherd in her report found Kelly breached Section 4 General Integrity, which outlines ethics and principles members are expected to uphold, and Section 7 Discrimination and Harassment, which requires councillors to treat members of the public with respect.

Council carried the integrity commissioner's report on Wednesday without discussion. Kelly did not speak. 

"I thought the report was appropriate, I felt members of council found it was appropriate and everyone was prepared to carry the recommendation and move on," Mayor Mark Sutcliffe told reporters after Wednesday's city council meeting. 

The investigation looked at three incidents on July 3, 2024 when Kelly confronted staff of the West Carleton Kids Korner Daycare adjacent to his constituency office in Kinburn. Kelly told CTV News during an interview after the incident that issues between the daycare and his office had been going on for several years.

While participating in a planning and housing committee meeting in his office virtually, Kelly became frustrated with the noise outside his exterior office windows from children playing outside.

He told the investigator that on two occasions, he attempted to speak with staff regarding the noise and had asked that children's toys outside his window to be moved but was met with rude responses. Kelly admitted to the investigator that he was "kind of fired up in that moment" and felt provoked by the situation.

Kelly returned to his office to speak with his staff where he used "loud, inappropriate language" inside. A small group of children were working on crafts in the chambers nearby and a witness said she could hear his voice coming from outside the office.

Kelly then decided to leave his office to confront the daycare owner, Karen Bolton, outside the daycare entrance where a two-to-three-minute profanity-laden interaction took place. A witness overheard Kelly saying phrases that included: "this is f***ing ridiculous", "the daycare has to go", "staff are rude", "your staff can't control these f***ing kids.”

Another witness could not recall what was said but recalled "lots of F-Bombs" and described him as "aggressive" and "angry." She said Kelly “went from loud to shouting” on several occasions.

Kelly acknowledged that he had confronted the daycare owner and used inappropriate language in the exchange. He expressed his regret for his use of profanities to investigators.

The daycare's owner proceeded to call the Ottawa police who attended the scene but did not lay any charges.

The West Carleton Kids Korner in July 2024. (CTV News Ottawa)"Regrettably, Councillor Kelly’s comments and profanity were overheard by a daycare worker and children in Chambers. While I believe Councillor Kelly did not intend for his comments to be overheard, I believe it is reasonable that he should have known someone could easily hear him given his complaints about the lack of noise attenuation between his office and Chambers. His comments and profanity had a negative impact on the daycare worker who overheard them," Shepherd wrote.

Shepherd added that while Kelly took accountability for his actions, he did not act with accountability during the encounters, writing he had the "opportunity to compose himself" and avoid the aggressive confrontation that followed.

She also acknowledged Kelly has a “reasonable expectation of a professional work environment.”

“Though not an excuse for Councillor Kelly’s conduct that day, it does not appear that any action was taken in response to complaints from the Councillor’s Office about the noise and bathroom issues associated with the summer camp in 2023. It is regrettable that the various parties could not come to an agreement or implement measures that might have mitigated the noise and disruption of the summer camp program for the summer of 2024,” she wrote.

Kelly has taken steps to engage with the city’s Employee Assistance Program for “assistance with managing anger and staying healthy” and expressed his commitment to learning from his mistakes, according to the report.

The report notes pylons have since been added to the cement area outside Kelly's office to keep children away from the exterior windows. Steps have also been taken to possibly improve sound attenuation between chambers and the councillor's offices.

"Councillor Kelly has expressed regret for his actions, acknowledged that his behaviour was inappropriate and has taken proactive steps to avoid a similar interaction in the future. This is the first report respecting Councillor Kelly’s conduct and he fully co-operated with the inquiry," the report said.

In a statement to CTV News, Kelly said he accepts the findings in the report.

"I take responsibility for my reaction and use of strong language during an exchange on July 3rd. Everyone deserves to have a safe and positive work environment, and I am committed to ensuring that I will do my part to contribute to this. At the same time, I am grateful that the report concludes that I did not direct profanities at children or staff of the daycare, and that the Commissioner carefully considered the context in which this situation occurred," Kelly wrote.

"My handling of this exchange was a mistake that I have learned from. I am committed to moving forward representing the great people of West Carleton-March."