Brant councillor punished for Facebook post
Cardy, who says he was ‘hacked,’ docked pay after integrity commissioner rules he posted racial slur
BRANT COUNTY — A County of Brant councillor is being slapped with a two-day pay suspension after an integrity commissioner investigation found he used “inappropriate language” on Facebook.
The penalty stems from a complaint filed by a Paris resident, which alleged Coun. Don Cardy violated the county’s code of conduct by posting a profane and disturbing racial slur about people of Middle Eastern descent late last summer.
Cardy, who represents Paris, claims his Facebook account and computer were hacked.
He deleted his Facebook account and destroyed his computer early on in the investigation, a report from county integrity commissioner Melinda Munro reads.
Based on behavioural evidence, along with limited technical evidence, Munro said she also believes Cardy made the posts himself.
In her findings, Munro recommended Cardy receive a two-day pay suspension for the post as well as a 30-day pay suspension for destroying evidence related to the investigation.
Council voted at a special meeting last week not to impose the 30-day suspension of pay but to go ahead with the two-day penalty.
While councillors debated the punishment during the meeting, no one voiced concern publicly about the contents of Cardy’s Facebook post.
During the meeting, councillors wrestled with whether to impose the 30-day suspension of pay for destroying evidence suggested by Munro.
Some argued that particular violation of the code of conduct was not identified in the original complaint, so Cardy should not be punished for it.
Other council members, who voted in favour of the 30-day penalty, said it wasn’t possible to include an allegation of destroying evidence in the original complaint, because the computer and Facebook account were deleted later.
Council voted 4-3 to not impose the lengthier suspension.
Jeff Bartscher, who made the complaint, said overall he’s satisfied with the outcome although he questioned the severity of the punishment.
“I’m satisfied that it’s something that was made public,” he said. “That was kind of the goal — to bring that kind of behaviour from an elected official public.”
Cardy, who according to a Brantford Expositor story from late 2017 plans to run for mayor in the upcoming municipal election, could not be reached for comment.
The social media post, which Cardy says he did not make, dates back to August 2017. Bartscher alleges Cardy was not telling the truth about being hacked because a post with similar language was also made on his Facebook page in Novem- ber 2016.
In his affidavit, Cardy said both posts were the “work of an unidentified hacker” who gained access to his business computer using “remote control software.” He alleged he wouldn’t have been able to make the August post because he was at the Brantford Community Charity Airshow that day, despite acknowledging he sometimes uses Facebook on his cellphone.
According to Munro’s report, Cardy argued the post was not made while he was conducting county business and so the code of conduct should not apply — a point she disputed.
“It is not reasonable to suggest that a councillor can post inappropriate language to Facebook due to a very narrow reading of the term ‘official duties,’” Munro wrote. “It can reasonably be suggested that once elected as a public official, all public activities are ‘official duties’ for the purpose of behaving in a manner consistent with the code.”