THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay’s city council will wait to confirm its decision on the handling of an integrity complaint against Coun. Aldo Ruberto, in order to give the at-large councillor a chance to be present for the discussion.
Council voted 6-4 last week to dock Ruberto five days’ pay (around $593) after the city’s integrity commissioner concluded he had violated the code of conduct by commenting on an ongoing police investigation.
As reports emerged that a motorist had driven over a tent at an area of a local mall that had become a gathering place used by the homeless, Ruberto commented online, "I hope it is a case of the wind blowing a tent and hitting the truck. And not a truck purposely running over a stationary tent."
That violated the fundamental principle that elected officials shouldn't comment on ongoing criminal investigations or matters before the courts, the integrity commissioner's report found, though its conclusions drew only narrow support from council.
That narrow vote still needs to be ratified by council in order to take effect.
Council voted unanimously on Monday to delay that procedural step until March 14.
Coun. Mark Bentz put forward the deferral, saying councillors had received an email from Ruberto with the request to wait until he could be present.
A previous push at the Feb. 7 meeting by Coun. Albert Aiello to delay ratifying the vote on the integrity commissioner report until all councillors were present had failed.
Most councillors said at the time that threshold would cause an unreasonable delay, and might not even be met before a new city council was elected in October.
On Monday, however, councillors said ensuring Ruberto himself was present was a reasonable ask.
“Regardless of how we voted last week, and how difficult I think all of us found last week, one of the key things [that’s come] out of this is [the need for] respect,"said Coun. Andrew Foulds. "So I totally support Coun. Ruberto being present. Of course, I didn’t support all members being present. But I think given the difficulty, I think we need to be above board.”
Only 8 of 13 councillors were present for Monday's meeting, with Ch’ng, Fraser, Giertuga, McKinnon, and Ruberto absent.
Reached by email, Ruberto said he was out of town through March 7, and that he looked forward to further addressing the report after hearing feedback from the public.
Note: This article has been updated with comment from Coun. Aldo Ruberto.
