Troubling incident at councillor's home leads Langford mayor to ask former mayor to denounce behaviour
At a press conference on Wednesday, Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson was flanked by four city councillors as he called for unity within the community.
“The City of Langford is at its most divided today,” said Goodmanson.
He says a troubling incident took place not long ago that went beyond peaceful protest.
“This member of the public was observed staring through the windows and appearing to be taking photographs of the inside of a council member's home,” said Goodmanson.
The mayor isn’t saying which council member it was, nor who the member of the public is that is being accused of the privacy breach. He’s only saying that the councillor now fears for their family's safety.
Goodmanson is calling on community leaders to denounce the incident, including former mayor Stew Young.
“First off, they shouldn’t have mentioned my name in the press conference,” said Young. “I don’t know anything that they’re talking about.”
The former mayor says he was blindsided by this and only found out about it once members of the media reached out to him for comment.
Young says he is not willing to step in.
“I don’t even know who these people are and I’m not going to go around and say ‘Hey, you shouldn’t do this and you shouldn’t do that,'” said Young.
As far as the incident goes, the West Shore RCMP confirms to CTV News that it did receive a complaint from the council member. It says although the behaviour displayed by the citizen was concerning, no criminal act had been committed.
A group called Our Langford has been protesting unprecedented property tax increases in the municipality since last year.
“What we’re trying to do is advocate for the taxpayers and the renters,” said Lisa Foxall, a member of Our Langford.
Foxall says the individual accused of invading the privacy of the council member was not with Our Langford and that the group has no intention of ending its protests.
“It’s just bringing the community together that can’t afford these tax increases,” said Foxall.
The mayor of Langford says the city is prepared to take steps to make sure council members, the public and staff feel safe during council meetings.
“Banning individuals who have behaved inappropriately from in-person attendance at council and committee meetings or seeking stronger remedies through the courts,” said Goodmanson.
What the mayor won’t be getting is the protests to cease or the former mayor to intervene.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6977053.1721909931!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Sick to my stomach': People grieve Jasper National Park by sharing favourite photos
As an out-of-control wildfire roared through Alberta’s famed Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday, many are fearing the worst as officials warned of 'significant loss' within the area.
DEVELOPING Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
Canadian women's soccer team staffer given suspended prison sentence over drone incident, prosecutor says
A Canada women's soccer team staffer has been given an eight-month suspended prison sentence after flying a drone to film the closed-door training session of the New Zealand team on Monday, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Sale of envoy's NYC condo 'expected to exceed' $9M: government
The current official residence for Canada's representative in New York City is 'being readied for sale,' according to a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada.
'I'm so broke': Two Toronto women speak out after losing $76,000 in romance scam
Two women from the Toronto area are speaking out after losing thousands of dollars to a romance scam, including a single mother who lost $62,000.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Loblaw, George Weston to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500-million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.