Nova ScotiaThe mayor of Mulgrave, N.S., is applauding recent amendments to the province’s municipal code of conduct that required investigations when residents filed complaints against municipal leaders.N.S. town spending more than $7,200 to investigate complaint filed before changes to the codeAdam Cooke · CBC News · Posted: Oct 27, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe Strait-area town, with a population of just over 600, has paid more than $7,200 to have a firm look into conflict of interest complaints levelled by a Mulgrave resident against Mayor Ron Chisholm. (Robert Short/CBC)The mayor of Mulgrave, N.S., is applauding recent amendments to the province’s municipal code of conduct that required investigations when residents filed complaints against municipal leaders.Prior to the rules changing earlier this month, a local resident alleged Ron Chisholm was in a conflict of interest.The third-party investigation into the complaint, which is ongoing, will cost the small town of just over 600 people at least $7,200.“I think it’s great,” Chisholm said of the changes. “You can only take so much of this.”We’re a small town with a small budget. Seven thousand dollars in some people’s municipalities is not a big deal, but each and every dollar counts here.”The municipal code of conduct came into effect in 2024.Ron Chisholm is the mayor of Mulgrave. (Town of Mulgrave )Under the amendments, Nova Scotians can no longer launch formal complaints about municipal leaders and councillors. These complaints may only be filed by councillors themselves. Mike Shaw, who moved to Mulgrave in 2013 after his retirement, began raising concerns about council activity in 2021. Chisholm was re-elected by acclamation to a second term in last October’s municipal elections. The new provincial regulations came in shortly after.Shaw then set up a Facebook group to bring his concerns to social media. He lodged a formal complaint to one of a handful of independent firms earmarked by the province to deal with complaints under the new code of conduct.In March, Mulgrave town council hired one of those advisory firms to handle an investigation into claims against Chisholm, although the town has not formally confirmed who made the claims.As the investigation continued, Shaw ramped up his campaign on Facebook and in the public gallery at Mulgrave council meetings. He was removed from a council meeting on June 16 and barred from attending future meetings. Shaw is not happy with the province’s pause on accepting complaints from anyone other than elected officials. “The checks and balances are here, and it’s my right,” Shaw said in an interview.Chisholm would later say that Shaw had received repeated warnings about speaking out of turn at four consecutive council sessions prior to the June ejection.Pam Mood, the president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, is aware of the Mulgrave situation. She said other municipalities have experienced similar issues.Mood is concerned that such activity could discourage candidates from running for office. “No one is ever saying that taxpayers shouldn’t be able to make a complaint against a councillor.… It’s OK if it’s real,” said Mood, who is also the mayor of the Town of Yarmouth. “But it’s not OK if it’s not real and it’s just a way to get back at somebody, or they’re just saying it to ruin somebody’s reputation.”MORE TOP STORIESABOUT THE AUTHORAdam Cooke is a journalist living in Port Hawkesbury.
Mulgrave mayor applauds amendments to province’s municipal code of conduct
