Mayoral candidate fired from job as director of planning in North Saanich

Felice Mazzoni, a mayoral candidate in North Saanich, has been fired by the District just days before the local elections. 

The District’s council decided unanimously on Tuesday, October 13th to share the independent investigation report that was conducted due to complaints against Mazzoni’s behaviour in the workplace. 

Mazzoni had been employed by the District as the municipality’s director of planning and community services for three years before he was terminated on Tuesday. 

The heavily redacted report was completed by Roper Greyell LLP Employment + Labour Lawyers and released on Tuesday by North Saanich.

In the report, Mazzoni is the respondent to the allegations of breaching the District’s respectful workplace policy. The complainant is unnamed. 

The report ultimately found that “There is no doubt that there was a breakdown in the working relationships” between Mazzoni and the complainant. 

“The breakdown in trust between these employees translated into a tendency of the Complainants and the Respondent to record, catalogue and fixate on even relatively minor incidents involving each other, rather than approaching each other directly or letting small annoyances roll off them and moving on,” reads the report. 

“Undoubtedly, these breakdowns have been deleterious to the work environment and the Department as a whole.”

It was noted that due to the small nature of the department, and the fact that the breakdown in relationships had bled into other departments within the District, Roper Greyell LLP’s report urged the District to take decisive action. 

While the report ultimately found Mazzoni’s conduct did not breach workplace policy, it was still inappropriate and had to be dealt with. 

“Although his conduct did not amount to a breach of the Policy or law, the Respondent’s conduct was contrary to the District’s expectations of its managers in several instances, as outlined in my findings,” reads the report. 

“In my view, most of the concerning conduct stemmed from/related directly to what can be described as the Respondent’s poor leadership skills and qualities, including but not limited to a lack of effective, empathetic, and respectful communication skills.”

Furthermore, the report noted that Mazzoni was reluctant to take accountability for his own part in the escalation of tension and the breakdown of communication with the complainants. Instead, he was found to often deflect blame onto others. 

Roper Greyell LLP provided two options to the District: a negotiated exit or termination without cause, or to continue employing him. 

Victoria Buzz reached out to Mazzoni on this matter and how it will impact his bid for mayor, but as of this publication, has not received comment. 

Mazzoni is one of three candidates for mayor in North Saanich, running against incumbent mayor Peter Jones and Jack McClintock, who has previously served 12 years as a council member in North Saanich.