THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s city council has voted not to sanction Coun. Aldo Ruberto for comments he made on social media about an ongoing police investigation, bucking a recommendation from the city's integrity commissioner and overturning a previous vote.
Council voted 6-4 in February to dock Ruberto five days’ pay (just under $600) for his Facebook post about an incident in which a man drove his truck over a tent at a homeless encampment.
But Monday, with two councillors who'd been absent in February returned, Ruberto found the votes he needed to get the result he had pushed for.
“It shows the majority of council believes I did nothing wrong, and quite frankly, so does the general public,” Ruberto said after the meeting. “Let’s be serious here – the only one that thinks I did something wrong is the commissioner.”
The comment typified his defiant response to the report, which he called an example of "cancel culture," and seemed to discount the votes of half of his colleagues.
On Monday, Couns. Aiello, Giertuga, McKinnon, You, and Mayor Bill Mauro voted to overturn the February vote, clearing the sanction against Ruberto; Couns. Bentz, Ch’ng, Hamilton, Johnson, and Oliver voted to confirm the previous vote, losing on a 5-5 tie.
The absence of two other councillors Monday likely didn’t change the outcome: Coun. Andrew Foulds had voted to sanction Ruberto in February, while Coun. Cody Fraser had voted against.
The issue centred on a comment Ruberto posted to Facebook on Oct. 6, 2021, as reports emerged a vehicle had driven over a tent under the overhang of an abandoned gas bar at the County Fair Plaza. The area had become a gathering place for people experiencing homelessness, sparking tensions and a municipal plan to fence it off, abandoned after community opposition.
“I hope it is a case of the wind blowing a tent and hitting the truck,” he wrote. “And not a truck purposely running over a stationary tent."
Thunder Bay police charged the man with dangerous driving later that day.
Ruberto’s comment crossed a line, violating the convention that political leaders shouldn’t comment on matters before the courts or under active police investigation, the integrity commissioner’s report found.
“This is particularly the case where an arrest has been made and charges are proceeding, and the speculation posits reasons which would seem to provide exculpatory explanations in aid of the accused,” it read.
The document raised serious concerns over Ruberto's online conduct generally, warning the way he blocked other Facebook users – including a journalist who pressed him on his comments, in this case – could shut out constituents and limit public debate.
The report failed to show convincingly that he had violated the city's code of conduct, some said.
“I think this was an innocent hope that this was something else, rather than a horrific act,” said Coun. Trevor Giertuga. “I just think this is a ridiculous waste of money.”
Jeff Abrams of Principles Integrity, the firm that provides integrity commissioner services to the city, said Monday the process would likely cost the city just over $5,000, after Ruberto raised the point.
“When did the integrity commissioner become Lord and God of Facebook?” Ruberto asked at one point, referring to their “so-called investigation.”
Mauro, chairing the meeting, later intervened to advise colleagues to avoid “subjective ad hominem comments about the report.”
“You can agree with it or you can disagree with it,” he said. “The integrity commissioner is an independent officer and they have a responsibility based upon a complaint to bring the report.”
Coun. Shelby Ch’ng said the crux of the issue was that the integrity commissioner found Ruberto had failed to put his duty to uphold public trust before his personal right to free expression.
“It’s not, do I think Coun. Ruberto could have influenced a police investigation?” she said. “I don’t think that’s true.”
“It’s [about] setting a precedent where we as council members simply don’t behave like normal members of the public, because people assume we know more… Whether it’s true or not, members of the public could assume Coun. Ruberto might have known something.”
Coun. Kristen Oliver spoke up in favour of a second recommendation from the commissioner to consider developing guidance for councillors on their use of social media.
“I think in terms of governance, there’s really good reason to have structure and boundaries in place, and I think it would certainly help deter situations like this from happening in the future again," she said.
That motion passed on a 7-3 vote, with Aiello, Giertuga, and Mauro against.
“We have a code of conduct, we approved the code of conduct,” said the mayor. “For me, that’s enough. I don’t know that we need another guiding document.”
For his part, Ruberto said the training could be useful for some, but as a longtime and prolific user of social media, felt he didn’t need it.
“Maybe some councillors could use training and support [and] that would help them,” he said. “Myself personally, I’ve learned the hard way by making every possible mistake you can think of, and I’ve learned from those mistakes.”
