Ward 11 councillor Jeromy Farkas refused to apologize at a council meeting Thursday for comments he made on social media.
It made for some tense moments at the meeting as a debate on a motion about time spent in closed-door meetings was ramping up.
Farkas tweeted on April 3 that he had been mocked by council members for asking for a recorded vote of these types of meetings.
Farkas said sometimes the meetings had been used “to instil fear, intimidate and shut down new ideas.”
Councillor Peter Demong took issue with Farkas on social media, tweeting that he didn’t “want my name associated with such a ludicrous statement …”
Mayor Naheed Nenshi asked for Farkas to apologize to council.
“If you have these concerns there are multiple opportunities to raise them, other than on social media,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said. “Again, I will ask for an apology now, if not, I will suggest you are in violation of the code of conduct.”
After an awkward silence, Farkas refused.
A motion was made to eject Farkas from council chambers, but it was defeated.
Council instead voted unanimously of studying in-camera habits and looking at ways to decrease the amount of time in private meetings.