‘Shut Up’ Councillor Won’t Apologize For Her Outburst As Separate Meetings Held

It’s a war of words in which neither side is willing to declare a ceasefire.

Councillor Maria Augimeri pointedly won’t apologize for her outburst at a press conference that shocked the city on Wednesday. The York Centre rep was at a gathering called to reassure residents who live near Sunday’s propane explosion that their neighbourhood doesn’t pose a health hazard, despite the discovery of asbestos.

But when Augimeri announced she was holding a meeting to allay homeowners’ concerns, she was interrupted by Tony Di Santo, the head of the Ancaster Ratepayers Association, furious that she called a separate gathering when his had already been planned.

That resulted in Augimeri’s now famous response, invoking the name of Bob Leek , the firefighter who died battling the blaze. “If people have problems of a partisan nature they should not use a death of a firefighter or anything associated with the disaster to deal with it!” she shouted at him. “So shut up!”

The day after, Augimeri remained unmoved. When asked if she had any apologies, her first response was instantaneous. “Absolutely not!” she roared.

“I would say so again to him,” she avers. “He was successful in stopping the community getting the information that they needed, important health information. And I won’t tolerate that. I’ve always made it a precedent to support my community and to protect them. That’s the reason I’m here. And that’s the reason I’ve been elected for a quarter of a century.

“I’ve been representing them for 25 years. I’m not going to let anyone come between them and their health. And I’m going to do my best to protect them.”

But she admits she and the others weren’t at their best that day. She’d just rushed back from Italy and hadn’t had much time to recover. “People were exhausted. I was jet-lagged. We hadn’t eaten or slept for days. Of course they [their words] weren’t chosen carefully. Of course they weren’t.”

Augimeri later did issue a slightly more serious mea culpa but the impression she made on the community was immediate and possibly irrevocable.

On the day following her controversial comments, the councillor wasn’t taking calls from constituents – or anyone else. Her line at City Hall was being answered by a recording.

“Due to recent events, we are experiencing a high volume of calls,” it informed . “Please leave us a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.”

It was followed by a pitch for her meeting in English and Italian.

Why did Augimeri bring up the subject of Bob Leek, the emergency official who was found dead at the scene, when his name had not even been raised at the press conference?

According to Di Santo’s daughter, her father had referenced the tragedy in a letter promoting his meeting.

“The only time my father has ever mentioned the firefighter’s death was at the beginning of the announcement letter for the meeting where my father empathizes with the community and sends his condolences to the firefighter’s family,” Rina Schmitt charges in an email to CityNews.ca. “By her making that accusation, it suggests to me that she was aware of the meeting at St. Norbert Church.”

And there the impasse stands.

Di Santo claims he hoped to get everyone together under one roof and clear the air over the emergency. That didn’t  happen.

Augimeri refused to cancel her meeting and Di Santo went ahead with his as scheduled. Councillor Rob Ford agreed to be present to hear the community’s concerns instead.

The locals are incensed because officials have closed down several areas for possible asbestos contamination and sent in clean-up crews in hazmat gear, while they live right next door and are being assured there’s no cause for concern to their families’ health.

Their response: ‘you don’t have to live here. We do.’