Shane Weaver | Candidate Ward 3
A Statement to the Residents of Grimsby
In 2006, when I was 32, I was involved in a consensual relationship with a woman who was 18 at the time. Looking back, I would make different choices today. I have learned from that period, and I am not going to pretend otherwise.
The relationship ended the following year, but we continued working together for several months before the professional relationship came to an end.
The first criminal case began in 2009 with a charge of sexual exploitation of a minor. An extortion charge was added later. The Crown withdrew the sexual exploitation charge, and the extortion charge was reduced to criminal harassment. I pleaded guilty to criminal harassment, received a conditional discharge, and accepted responsibility for my actions.
A separate criminal case followed in 2011. Those charges went to trial, and I was acquitted.
A civil action also followed and proceeded independently. It concluded in 2018, when the remaining claims were dismissed without costs.
Today, the old allegations and headlines are still easy to find online. The outcomes take more work. That is why I am putting them on the record: what the Crown withdrew, what went to trial, what ended in acquittal, and how the civil action concluded.
The headline tells you what was alleged. The court record tells you how it ended.
I am addressing this during my campaign because I am asking Grimsby to trust me with public office. I cannot demand accountability from others if I am unwilling to be accountable for my own record.
What stayed with me from that experience was the discipline to get past the first impression. Read the record. Check the facts. Understand the rules. Ask the questions that still need answers. And when something does not add up, keep digging until you understand why.
That is how I will approach council. I will do the research, know the record, and ask the difficult questions. I will not accept an answer simply because it is convenient. And when an issue matters to the people I represent, I will be prepared to see it through to the end.
The relationship ended the following year, but we continued working together for several months before the professional relationship came to an end.
The first criminal case began in 2009 with a charge of sexual exploitation of a minor. An extortion charge was added later. The Crown withdrew the sexual exploitation charge, and the extortion charge was reduced to criminal harassment. I pleaded guilty to criminal harassment, received a conditional discharge, and accepted responsibility for my actions.
A separate criminal case followed in 2011. Those charges went to trial, and I was acquitted.
A civil action also followed and proceeded independently. It concluded in 2018, when the remaining claims were dismissed without costs.
Today, the old allegations and headlines are still easy to find online. The outcomes take more work. That is why I am putting them on the record: what the Crown withdrew, what went to trial, what ended in acquittal, and how the civil action concluded.
The headline tells you what was alleged. The court record tells you how it ended.
I am addressing this during my campaign because I am asking Grimsby to trust me with public office. I cannot demand accountability from others if I am unwilling to be accountable for my own record.
What stayed with me from that experience was the discipline to get past the first impression. Read the record. Check the facts. Understand the rules. Ask the questions that still need answers. And when something does not add up, keep digging until you understand why.
That is how I will approach council. I will do the research, know the record, and ask the difficult questions. I will not accept an answer simply because it is convenient. And when an issue matters to the people I represent, I will be prepared to see it through to the end.
Shane G. Weaver
Ward 3 Candidate | Grimsby |
Court records supporting this statement include the Ontario Court of Justice proceedings, the reasons for judgment in a subsequent criminal proceeding, and the final disposition of the related Superior Court civil action.