A Halifax councillor is apologizing for using a racially charged word, the most recent event in a string of controversial remarks to roil Atlantic Canada’s most populous municipality.
Matt Whitman, councillor for Hammonds Plains-St. Margarets, used the word “negro” in an interview last week, prompting a public outcry in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM).
On Tuesday, he apologized for engaging in “inappropriate dialogue,” saying he never meant to “insult, hurt, demean or otherwise disparage anyone.”
“Over the past week, I have been involved in social media dialogue with a fellow council colleague, which developed into an extensive, emotional and sometimes heated exchange,” he told council.
“I’m sorry if I offended anyone.”
READ MORE: Halifax councillors trade barbs after one promises to no longer use the word ‘marijuana’
Whitman and Shawn Cleary, councillor for Halifax West Armdale, traded barbs over Twitter after Cleary said he would no longer use the term “marijuana” because he feels the word has racist origins.
The exchange resulted in an online spat over different views the two men held on the concept of racism.
The lone African-Nova Scotian member of council, Lindell Smith, councillor for Halifax Peninsula North, asked Whitman to refrain from using the word “negroes.”
“It’s not appropriate, and we are not in 1950,” Smith said in a tweet, explaining that people of colour or African-Nova Scotian were more appropriate terms.
Mayor Mike Savage commended Whitman’s apology.
“We all need to be respectful of each other, I just believe that, right? And I think you can only make good decisions on tough issues if you respect each other’s points of view and part of that is understanding words you can use and words you shouldn’t use,” said Savage.
But the apology rang hollow for some in the community.
“I think he should be apologizing to all residents of Halifax, especially our racialized communities for using the words that he used,” Cleary said on Tuesday.
Whitman refused to comment any further after making his statement.
WATCH: Halifax Coun. Matt Whitman does ‘Chinese fire drill’ in traffic in video posted to YouTube
Process is not over yet
According to the municipal clerk’s office, four complaints against councillors have been filed in the past few days.
However, they wouldn’t confirm who those complaints were made against or if they were even related.
Nick Ritcey, a spokesperson for the HRM says that complaints are viewed as a personal matter and will be dealt with in a future in-camera session which could include the city’s clerk, administrative staff, the chief administrative officer, senior solicitor, mayor and councillors.
The resolution of that in-council decision will only be made public after it is resolved in an open session.
“If it’s deemed the councillor did in fact breach the code of conduct, the issue can be resolved through: an apology to those affected by the breach, counselling, or withdrawal of appointment from any committee of Council,” Ritcey wrote in an email.
It’s not the first time that the outspoken councillor has had to apologize for comments made in his political career.
READ MORE: Halifax deputy mayor Matt Whitman faces complaint over social media conduct
Earlier this year, he issued an apology after a video appeared to show Whitman doing a Chinese fire drill.
The video was posted on the District 13 councillor’s YouTube page on March 19, and shows himself and a passenger sitting in a car yelling, “Chinese fire drill,” before exiting the car and running around it with the passenger. They then get back in the car having had switched seats.
The video was removed later that week.
“I apologize for my lapse in judgment and my unintentional use of what I now understand to be an insensitive term. I never meant to offend or hurt anyone. I have learned from this experience,” said Whitman on his Facebook page at the time.
— with files from The Canadian Press