Halifax mayor warns council about alcohol

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 CBC NEWS:

The mayor of Halifax is concerned that alcohol abuse among his councillors could lead to a drunk-driving death. Mayor Peter Kelly sent a memo to his councillors last Friday telling them he has been getting complaints from both the public and staff about councillors' drinking. The memo was later leaked to the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. In the memo, Kelly asks each councillor to "reflect on the ramifications should a tragedy occur due to a member of council drinking and driving." He does not mention any of the 23 councillors by name. Coun. Sue Uteck believes the mayor leaked his own memo. "I think it came from his own office, absolutely," she said. "There's no benefit to any councillor to leak that. We are now all painted with the same brush." Uteck said if the mayor knows of any particular councillor who isn't drinking responsibly, he should have approached that person directly. "I find it somewhat awkward that the mayor would send this to all of us," she said. Coun. Barry Dalrymple sees it differently and said Kelly is showing leadership. "Kudos to the mayor," he said. "He obviously believes there's some kind of an issue there."