Councillor who broke Code of Conduct to learn fate this week
Posted Sep 23, 2019 11:03:00 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An Ottawa city councillor, who was found to have broken city council's Code of Conduct after a dispute on Facebook with a resident, will find out this week what punishment city council will dole out.
Osgoode Councillor George Darouze was found by the city's integrity commissioner to have violated the Code of Conduct's section on harassment, after a 2018 dispute over policing.
At an all-candidates political forum, leading up to the October 2018 municipal election, Councillor Darouze claimed he was responsible for changes that had improved police coverage in the ward. After the debate, a resident posted in a Facebook group, disagreeing with Darouze's claims.
About 12 hours after the exchange on Facebook, Councillor Darouze e-mailed the then-police chief, attaching copies of the woman's Facebook posts.
“I appreciate her husband's years of service with OPS, but I'm very concerned about the scare tactics being used to upsetting the community,” Darouze wrote.
Darouze made the connection despite the woman not mentioning her husband in her post and using her maiden name on the social media platform.
The councillor also accused the police officer of sharing internal police information. He wrote, “if her husband is relaying incorrect information to her to scare the public, I think it would be best to resolve this once and for all so we are all on the same page.”
The city's integrity commissioner has found that Councillor Darouze violated the section of city council's Code of Conduct on harassment.
In a written statement, Darouze says he accepts full responsibility for his actions.
“I have already issued a written apology to the Complainants in this matter and have also written the Interim Chief of the Police Services making him aware of the report, and requesting that my email to the former Chief of Police, dates September 21, 2018 to be removed from all of the Service's files,” Darouze wrote. He adds that he will not comment further.
The integrity commissioner's report now goes to city council, which will decide what punishment should be handed out. The councillor could receive a reprimand, but council also has the option of suspending the councillor's pay for up to 90 days.
