21 complaints in two days caps off tumultuous week for Halifax council

It only took hours for the statue of Edward Cornwallis to be removed in Halifax . But the differences in opinions surrounding the debate — and the strong emotions that go with them — have lasted well after the dust settled.

According to figures provided by the municipality, since Thursday, the city received 21 official complaints against councillors.

The municipality is not able to disclose which councillors the complaints are against.

READ MORE: Halifax councillor under fire after retweeting ‘ethno-nationalist’ group

However, Thursday saw two councillors engage in a heated spat after one retweeted a a letter from a white supremacist organization.

Mayor Mike Savage says he’d like everyone to show a little bit more respect.

“When I spoke at council on Tuesday in support of removing the statue for now, the last thing I said is we need to all treat each other with respect as we have this conversation, no matter what our point of view. So, it disturbs me when people go public attacking each other,” Savage said in an interview on Friday.

The mayor was responding directly between the war of words between Matt Whitman, councillor for District 13, and Waye Mason, councillor for Disrict 7.

Whitman retweeted a letter from ID Canada, addressed to Savage regarding the Cornwallis decision.

“Canadians expect the memory of our European founders to remain unpolluted by revisionist attitudes,” the letter read.

“This incident is a worrying manifestation of a brutal disregard towards the accomplishments of Canada’s European founders.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This incident is a worrying manifestation of a brutal disregard towards the accomplishments of Canada's European founders."

ID Canada describes themselves as an “ethno-nationalist and identitarian youth movement” that says Canada was “never meant to be a melting pot of third-world migration.”

Many of the tweets on ID Canada Twitter account link to videos or images with anti-Islamic and anti-immigration messages.

Whitman deleted the retweet after being questioned by Global News, saying that he did not know who the organization was before retweeting their letter.

But that wasn’t before Mason questioned him over Twitter.

“You are retweeting a neo-nazi hate group,” Mason tweeted. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "You are retweeting a neo-nazi hate group," Mason tweeted. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Whitman has since blocked Mason.

WATCH: Are this Halifax councillor’s comments racist or ignorant?

1:55 Are this Halifax councillor’s comments racist or ignorant?

Reconciliation and moving forward

Savage says the threats received by some councillors, and the dispute between councillors is the antithesis of the city’s decision to remove the Cornwallis statue.

“The whole purpose of this debate is around reconciliation and about education and about respect and I’m seeing things that are not respectful,” said Savage.

He says that the role of council is to deal with contentious issues, but that they also have the responsibility of being mindful of their online opinions.

“Everybody’s entitled to their point of view, nobody’s being muzzled, but you have to be responsible for what you say.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Everybody's entitled to their point of view, nobody's being muzzled, but you have to be responsible for what you say."

This isn’t the first time that councillors have taken heat over public comments.

Council is set to undergo sensitivity training after 13 complaints were reported in a three-month period last year that saw tempers flare between councillors at council meetings and on social media.

Former provincial politician and political science professor Leonard Preya says there is a benefit for citizens in seeing all sides of their elected officials, even if it isn’t the best one.

“It’s important that people know what people think, however bad that might be. I look at those things and I think ‘I can’t believe that he said that,'” Preya said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's important that people know what people think, however bad that might be. I look at those things and I think 'I can't believe that he said that,'" Preya said.

“But it’s important for voters to know if their candidate is a racist, or sexist, or child abuser, whatever. I’d rather it be flushed out rather than live in the shadows and under the rocks.”