From Saltwire
The owner of a Lunenburg taxi business who banned the town’s mayor after an alleged drunken incident over the weekend said he is temporarily shutting down his service because of negative fallout.
Saltwind Transportation owner Simon Gordon posted about the incident Monday, saying Mayor Jamie Myra and several other people were disorderly when we went to pick them up and he had to call police to defuse the situation when they became combative. He also took issue with some follow-up communications from the mayor.
In a post on the company’s Facebook page Wednesday , Gordon wrote that “it is with a heavy heart and an abundance of caution that we will be temporarily suspending service for the time being.”
He said that on multiple occasions Wednesday while he was working, “I was accosted by members of the public. During one instance homophobic slurs were thrown in my direction.”
He said he honoured any bookings that had been made for trips but wouldn’t be taking requests for service.
“We’ll be in direct contact with anyone who this may impact and will work with the other service providers in town to find temporary solutions for our regular customers,” he said.
Gordon later updated his post to say the company had “started to receive strange emails through our contact page from people we believe are impersonating the mayor.”
As a result, he’s pulled down his website for now.
He posted previously that the company was reviewing safety issues. He is now looking to install dashcams in his vehicles
RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Mandy Edwards said police did not receive any complaints associated with the matter Wednesday. They did respond to the initial complaint Saturday morning, but no charges were laid.
The Town of Lunenburg said Monday that’s it’s investigating the alleged incidents involving the mayor.
In his own Facebook post Monday, Myra said, “I have a much different version of the events than they do,” while expressing support and congratulations to Gordon on his new business venture. He said that it is “certainly needed in our community. Safety is paramount to both the driver and their passengers. I wish him all the best moving forward as he grows his business.”
Nova Scotia’s Department of Municipal Affairs said this week it is aware of the allegations.