St. Catharines MP calls for Petrowski’s resignation

St. Catharines MP Chris Bittle has called for the resignation of vicechairman Andy Petrowski from the Niagara Police Services Board, an action that has been backed by some regional councillors.

The call for action came following what the federal representative described as “ignorant and hateful comments” about Muslims and refugees made recently by the St. Catharines regional councillor.

Bittle felt Petrowski should have resigned last summer after making public comments against gay marriage, for which he later apologized.

“He apologized, but he doesn’t seem to have learned anything from those comments,” he said. “Fast forward a few months and there is what I believe are hateful comments about Muslims.”

Bittle feels there “has been no change in Mr. Petrowski’s tone” following what he called a “hate-filled tirade” on Twitter and a local radio station last week.

“He hasn’t apologized for his statements or seen that he’s done anything wrong,” he said.

“It’s clear he’s out of touch and someone has to speak out.”

St. Catharines regional councillor Tim Rigby, who was unaware of Bittle’s comments when contacted by the Standard Friday, agreed action needs to be taken and said he had already planned to make a move.

“I’m going to ask him to resign (from the police board),” he said, adding he planned to send out a memo Friday evening to council, addressed directly to Petrowski.

Rigby, who initially supported Petrowski’s role on the police board, said he has “grave concerns about what’s going on.”

“It’s unfortunate because I thought he might do a good job for us. What he’s done is continued to act perhaps on his own personal convictions, but certainly not on that of this council.”

Rigby said he believes Petrowski “really needs to readjust himself” and should resign from the board as a result.

Bittle called the resignation necessary because Petrowski has displayed a “pattern of behaviour” and doesn’t seem to understand what the issue is.

In an e-mailed statement, after declining to speak by phone, Petrowski said he is “surprised that my personal concern for the safety of Canadians would draw such a malicious and co-ordinated attack from my political opponents, including community figures like the failed mayoral candidate Jeff Burch and a freshly minted MP.”

Burch, executive director of Niagara Folk Arts and Multicultural Centre, filed a complaint against Petrowski with the Ontario Civilian Police Commission over comments made during a Dec. 9 broadcast of the Tom McConnell Show on CKTB 610 AM. Petrowski called in and offered his opinion on American presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

Petrowski told McConnell the risk of bringing Syrian refugees to Canada was high.

“What is the probability of these tens of thousand of refugees coming through into Canada that a small percentage — well, it doesn’t have to be a percentage, the only one that matters is the one who decides to put a machine gun in his or her hands and wipe people out at the Eaton Centre,” Petrowski said on the show.

Burch’s complaint also listed more than a dozen tweets from Petrowski’s Twitter account concerning Muslims and the Syrian refugee crisis. Petrowski confirmed the Twitter account was his.

In his e- mailed statement Petrowski said: “It’s truly unfor- tunate that the plight of war victims has been politicized by these individuals at a time when they deserve nonpartisan attention and action. St. Catharines residents deserve better from their MP.”

He said Bittle should “focus on serving t he people of St. Catharines in his capacity instead of interfering in areas he has no jurisdiction.”

Petrowski went on to say he is “very heartened by the continued outpouring of support by my constituents from across St. Catharines and Niagara.”

While he has committed not to get involved in “policy-related matters” at the local level, Bittle said he felt the need to take a stand.

This is behaviour that none of us would condone in any workplace or our homes,” he said.

“Silence and inaction further enables Mr. Petrowski and serves to imply that his actions are condoned. They are not.”

St. Catharines regional councillor Kelly Edgar agreed with Bittle that action must be taken.

While people may argue Petrowski has a right to his opinion, Edgar said that right changes “once you’re in the position where you represent all people of the community.”

“You can no longer voice your personal opinions when it affects other people,” he said.

When Edgar learned of Petrowski’s recent comments, he questioned how he would react if they had been said by the police chief or a police officer.

“I would feel terrible about that. It’s not appropriate,” he said.

He also put himself in the shoes of refugees who are fleeing wartorn countries, often with corruption found in government and police forces.

Hearing a leader in the their new community “promoting hatred” paints a negative picture, Edgar said.

As an elected official “people look up to (Petrowski),” Edgar said.

“They look to him for guidance and advice.”

“Everyone’s entitled to a mistake once or even twice, but it is definitely a pattern and there’s a huge problem.”

“I think the honourable thing to do would be to fall on your sword. He should resign.”

While Edgar believes Petrowski should step down from the police board, council is another matter.

“He was voted in by an awful lot of people in St. Catharines. You can’t take that away from him. You can’t disenfranchise him because you don’t like necessarily what he has said.”

St. Catharines regional councillor Brian Heit felt the call to action, which he deemed appropriate, should have come from the Regional Chair’s office.

With the decision made earlier this year to remove the Region’s integrity commissioner, council was assured by Caslin any issues could be handled in-house, Heit said.

“I don’t know how well he’s really handled Andy over the last year.”

Heit, who feels Petrowski should resign from the board as a result of his most recent comments, said he has had concerns about Petrowski’s actions, but was trying to find a way to address them “in a polite fashion.”

Heit approached the regional clerk “months ago” trying to piece together a motion that if approved would see appointments to agencies, boards and commissions completed again two years into the four-year term.

That would address the problem without singling anyone out, he said.

“But I don’t think we can be polite anymore.”

Regional council does not have the opportunity to act, Heit said, until the next meeting on Jan. 14.

Work has also been underway to determine what course of action council may have under the circumstances, Heit said.

“It’s being looked into — what powers do we have to take some action because enough is enough.”

Heit said Petrowski represents both St. Catharines and the Region and his comments reflect poorly on both.

“Some constituents say at least he speaks his mind, he gives an opinion. It’s like (U.S. presidential candidate Donald) Trump. It’s like (former Toronto Mayor Rob) Ford. It’s a joke. It’s an embarrassment.”