Mayor Matthew Shoemaker has joined a chorus of voices calling on MPP Chris Scott to step down.
Shoemaker said he spoke with Premier Doug Ford after he learned that Scott had been kicked out of the Progressive Conservative Party due to being charged with assault and assault with a weapon.
Toronto Police arrested the rookie MPP on Sept. 21 and Sault Police laid the charges after Scott’s wife alleged that he hit her on Sept. 19, using a high chair as a weapon.
On Sept. 22, Ford announced that Scott was no longer a member of his caucus.
“I spoke to the premier last week,” Shoemaker said.
“In the absence of having a government representative, I wanted to make sure that the Sault’s concerns would remain front and centre for the provincial government.”
Last week Sault-based group Angie's Angels – formed in 2023 after a local woman and three children were murdered in a case of intimate partner violence – called on Scott to resign and so did members of the New Democratic Party.
In a SooToday poll from Sept. 24, 73 per cent of readers said Scott should resign.
SooToday’s editorial board published an editorial yesterday citing why he should step down, including that voters in this riding chose him because he sold himself as a member of the governing party.
“I think for the betterment of our city he should heed the calls of Angie’s Angels . . . to do what's in the best interest of our city – and resign,” Shoemaker said.
“Then he should allow the legal system to play out to make a final legal determination of what took place that day."
Shoemaker said Scott serving as an independent is a major step back for the people who live here.
“The basis of his election pitch was that he would have the ability to open those doors in government.
“Without being in caucus, I think it turns the entire basis of that on its head – and it probably will be a fairly significant step back,” Shoemaker said.
Having an independent MPP puts a lot more pressure on the Sault’s municipal government, he said.
“It's going to make it all that much more pressing on the municipality to make sure we keep in contact directly with MPP Bill Rosenberg, with the Premier's Office, and with other cabinet ministers . . . so we don't lose any of the progress or momentum that was already in the works,” Shoemaker said.
When asked what he would do if he were in Scott’s shoes right now, Shoemaker said: “That would never happen.”
- With files from Darren Taylor, Kenneth Armstrong and Greg McGrath-Goudie.