Troy Shantz
The host of a Sarnia-based web series who inadvertently recorded comments by a city councillor at the centre of an Integrity Commissioner complaint is sorry that it happened.
“I’d wish I’d have stopped it,” said an emotional David Burrows, host of “The Show” and The Video Show Network, an online community channel at www.tvsn.ca
Burrows was recording a Nov. 14 budget input meeting at City Hall and streaming it live online. The final speaker of the day was resident Margaret Bird who called for, among other things, council’s recent sanctions against Mayor Mike Bradley to be permanently removed.
When the meeting ended, the camera kept rolling and Coun. Bev MacDougall can be heard to say:
“Who the hell does she think she is? I think I’m going home for a drink after that. Christ almighty.”
Burrows reviewed the footage later at his home studio and trimmed it, but because it was live streamed people had already heard and recorded it.
Bird reportedly filed a complaint at City Hall last week concerning the comments and actions by MacDougall and councillors Andy Bruziewicz and Cindy Scholten during her presentation.
Burrows said he was saddened by the public reaction.
“We are adults; our children are watching,” he said. “People need to stop.”
Burrows was also behind the camera during an Oct. 28 rally co-organized by Bird in support of the mayor. His video showing an angry confrontation between several participants and Scholten was widely viewed and shared online.
Burrows has lived in Sarnia his whole life and is a long-time karaoke disc jockey. He said he started the web series and video network to promote the community and highlight what it has to offer. The ongoing controversy at City Hall is painful to watch, he said.
“The greatness that I’ve seen in this city all my life is being affected negatively. If we don’t stop sooner or later, we’ll have nothing left,” he said.
“I can’t imagine - whether you agree with all the councillors or not - the emotion that they must be going through and have gone through sitting in those chairs.”