Councillor Daryl Vaillancourt has resigned as Chairman of the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit and as council's representative on the group.
Vaillancourt, who is also the executive director of the North Bay and District Humane Society, pointed to the recent reports of Dunaj the doberman and the immense public scrutiny that the case garnered for inaccurately blurring the lines between the two positions and the distinct mandate required by each.
“The easiest way to explain it to everybody: in my current employment, during the day, I would often get called for information about recent events we’ve all read about in the media and people were seeking information," Vaillancourt explained after Monday's meeting.
“The only role the Humane Society played in that was housing and housing only; we are not an animal rights facility," he continued. "We are there for animal control for domestic cats or dogs, so what we would do is tell people to contact the Health Unit.
“Now, of course, because of my role there, I would often get ‘well, you are the health unit,’" said Vaillancourt. "There was an expectation that I would interfere, which I would never do, that I would jump into a legal process.
“So to remove that doubt and to remove that grey area for some people…unfortunately, I had to resign," he said.
Council accepted the letter of resignation during Monday night's meeting.
Councillor Tanya Vrebosch, who continues to sit on the same board, thanked Vaillancourt for his "amazing" efforts on the board and said she was "shocked" when she read the motion.
"I'm sorry it had to come to this," she said.
Vrebosch did not directly mention the ongoing story of Health Unit efforts to euthanize a doberman accused of biting incidents, but said "it's unfortunate that an incident recently in the media has caused such a disruption between his day job and council, that he can't continue to sit on the Health Unit."
"There’s been a lot of attention about this one particular biting incident," said Vaillancourt, "but it has been public that the Health Unit deals with over 400 bites a year.
“This one has caught attention, there’s been a lot of one-sided reporting, and that’s not a knock on anybody, but that tends to be the way this one turned out," he continued. "Everything from death threats, physical harm, and there has been libelous comments against me personally."
Despite his separation from the board, Vaillancourt was quick to express his appreciation for those he worked with in his former position and wished them well going forward.
“I have to say that Dr. [Jim] Chirico and the staff there have my full support," he said. "We have done some amazing things over the years and, unfortunately, it came to a point where I felt this was the best thing for both facilities, just to step back.
“I have been in politics for 11 years so I’m used to having a lot of attacks and having thick skin," he continued. "But there comes a point where the greater good has to prevail and I felt that this the best way to start that."
Vaillancourt is also on the North Bay Jack Garland Airport Board of Directors and said he has the availability to now look elsewhere for similar positions.
