Wren said he reacted after being accused of using a fatal apartment fire to “drum up sympathy"
Brockville Mayor Matt Wren says he accepts a council reprimand but insists he was simply defending his integrity.
The Recorder and Times reports, two weeks after the city’s integrity commissioner ruled he breached the code of conduct, Wren used this week’s council meeting to explain his side.
Integrity commissioner Ellen Fry found Wren violated the code twice — once by trying to intimidate someone at their workplace, and again by using the term “wackadoodle” to describe a member of the public. The complaint, filed by Bill McKinnon, stemmed from a dispute over street-closure fees for the city’s Santa Claus Parade.
Wren said he reacted after being accused of using a fatal apartment fire to “drum up sympathy.” He called the comment profoundly cruel.
The mayor said his anger came from a desire to protect his reputation and urged residents to help restore civility and compassion in local public discourse.
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