Halifax Regional Council has censured controversial councillor Matt Whitman and removed him from committees for three months after finding he violated council’s code of conduct and released prohibited materials.
Specifics on the exact nature of the violations have not been made public, and the censure followed a four-hour, behind-closed-doors meeting of Halifax councillors.
The in-camera meeting was held regarding public complaints against Halifax councillors over public statements they made about the municipality’s removal of its statue of Edward Cornwallis, the city’s founder.
READ MORE: Whitman won’t back down from complaints as council deals with them without him
Whitman did not take part in the in-camera meeting after council decided to not discuss the complaints in a public setting, a decision which he credits for punishment.
“I’m frustrated, I’m disappointed,” he said.
“I think that all three of (the councilors) should have received the same treatment… I chose to do this in public and because of that my punishment is very public and theirs was very private.”
Dismissed complaints
Council dismissed other complaints against councillor Shawn Cleary without any punishment and against councillor Waye Mason after he issued an apology to the complainants.
Mason published both of his official apologies on his website and appears to be in reference to a tweet he sent in response asking Whitman “What the hell is wrong with you?” in response to Whitman’s retweet of a whit supremacist organization protesting the removal of the Cornwallis statue in Halifax.
“My sincere intention is not to speak against Councillor Whitman as a person or a colleague but to stand in absolute defiance of racism in all of its forms,” Mason writes in one of his apologies.
“It is my opinion that some of Councillor Whitman’s statements and positions could easily be interpreted as racist, and could represent the ideas that I am seeking to root out and oppose. In a democratic society we are free to challenge and even decry each others ideas and actions without it categorically being an attack on the individual themselves.”
Mayor responds
Speaking after council, Mayor Mike Savage said that the punishment was the result of having previously had Whitman apologize for comments.
“I hope we can move on with this,” Savage said. “We have a good council, we work well together… but there are issues that do come up and they need to be dealt with.”
Savage added that the discussion around complaints has changed his mind on a proposed integrity commissioner — which would advise the council on possible outcomes of complaints against councilors — a decision he had previously voted against.
“It’s not something I take lightly because I believe councilors have the ultimate responsibility,” he said.
“But I’m not keen on councilors making decisions solely on other councilors. I’d be prepared to revisit that if council did.”
WATCH: 21 complaints in two days caps-off tumultuous week for Halifax council
Dealing with complaints in public
Although Whitman and Mason said they would consent to having the discussion of complaints against them be held in public, Cleary said he would not.
Cleary had argued that since the complaints were made under a process that had promised they would be discussed privately, council had no right to change that.
Council could have chosen to deal with a redacted version of the complaints, if they decided to deal with them in public, but many of the councillors seemed to agree with Cleary.
“You don’t move the goalposts halfway through the game,” said councillor Stephen Adams.
The decision by council means that Whitman will still be able to attend regional and district councils.