BORTOLIN APOLOGIZES
City councillor fires back
Coun. Rino Bortolin issued his required public apology Monday for rape-in-an-alley comments he made last fall, but then attacked the integrity commissioner report that condemned him as a debatestifling affront to democracy. “I’ve been fighting for my constituents since I was elected in 2014, championing their interests and giving voice to their concerns,” the downtown councillor said in a prepared statement, in which he also affirmed his intent to take the integrity commissioner to court for a judicial review. “I won’t stop now. I won’t stop listening and for that, I won’t apologize.”
The demand for an apology as well as a reprimand was recommended by integrity commissioner Bruce Elman and approved by council in a 7-1 vote in early May. Elman’s report concludes that Bortolin violated several rules of council’s code of conduct when he and several other councillors commented to the Windsor Star about a string of high-profile projects approved by council and how those projects — including restoring a 1918 trolley and a new holiday lights display for Jackson Park — were funded.
“When I have to continually go back to residents and say there is no money for a $3,000 alley light where that person got beat up and raped last week, it’s hard,” he said at the time. “They say: ‘Whatever. You just got Christmas lights, you just got a trolley.’”
In his statement Monday, Bortolin
said he was not referring to an actual rape, but he wasn’t intentionally misrepresenting the facts. “It was a hypothetical comment meant to highlight pressing safety issues in the core and to give voice to the exasperation of many people who live in neighbourhoods where there are unlit alleys,” he said. He added he apologized for making the comment the day it was published and many times since. “I’m sorry. I’m also sorry it’s been such a distraction, taking this council’s focus away from more important, positive initiatives and I’m also sorry that this entire exercise may most likely end up costing more than the actual lights residents were fighting to install.” Though there’s been no final bill for Elman’s investigation and report, his fee is $300 an hour. It’s likely it will be several months before the application for a judicial review, filed by Bortolin’s lawyer David McNevin on June 1, makes it to a courtroom. It seeks to have both the Integrity Commissioner’s report and council’s May 7 decision set aside for “error of law, misapprehension of facts and the denial of natural justice.” Bortolin said the report discourages dissent and limits the free and open exchange of ideas. “By accepting that report, council voted to accept a document that would prefer councillors to toe the line instead of standing up for their constituents,” he said.
He told the Star that whether he wins Thursday’s provincial election (he’s running as a Liberal in Windsor West), or isn’t re-elected to council in the fall, he intends on pursuing the legal case because of the dangerous precedent the report sets.
Mayor Drew Dilkens described Bortolin words as a “sorry, not sorry” statement. “But he did apologize for the words he used, which is great,” the mayor said, adding he’s looking forward to the results of the judicial review. Also on the agenda Monday night was a request by Bortolin to spend $3,500 of his ward funds for three alley lights in the block bounded by Victoria and Dougall avenues, and Wyandotte and Elliott streets. Thirty-six people were listed as delegates and council chambers was packed with Bortolin’s supporters for the first council meeting in the new city hall. “Give us our alley lights, you might make the greatest improvement to the downtown that you will ever make,” said Glengarry resident Mary Lajeunesse. “We’ve been asking for it so long. Please don’t back down. Give it to us.” Bortolin’s motion was passed without debate among councillors. Bortolin said he was “ecstatic” that the neighbourhood was getting the lights and credited the huge turnout. “$3,500 from ward funds in an area where people have signed a petition with hundreds of names to get them there, from the businesses to the residents to the nursing home that’s there, they all want it.” Elman concludes that Bortolin violated the Code by making disparaging comments about council’s decisions and processes, attacking the integrity of the decision-making process and criticizing a council decision. “Councillor Bortolin’s statement was highly critical of council’s decision to fund the restoration of the vintage streetcar,” Elman writes, recommending that Bortolin be reprimanded and that he apologize to council during a council meeting in council chambers.