Deputy Mayor forced to apologize over tweets
Posted Feb 17, 2016 05:55:19 AM.
Last Updated Feb 17, 2016 09:47:04 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Halifax Deputy Mayor Matt Whitman has been forced to apologize for comments he made on Twitter last week after more than three hours behind closed doors at regional council on Tuesday.
Last week, Whitman tweeted his criticism of an RCMP officer who had given one of his constituents a $400 ticket for using an ATV to clear a snow-covered street during a recent snow storm.
Halifax Regional Council decided to discuss the matter in-camera after Mayor Mike Savage’s office received two letters requesting formal complaints be launched against Whitman for his tweets.
Whitman used the hashtags ‘powertrip’ and ‘getalife’ and argued the officer should have used discretion to not ticket the man.
“We met for a long time on this, everyone got to voice their concern,” Whitman told The Rick Howe Show.
“We all agreed, including me, that the tweet in question with those two hashtags was inappropriate, rude, unkind, unprofessional and it wasn’t appropriate for a councillor or deputy mayor to tweet like that.”
Council approved a motion asserting the post violated the code of conduct for elected officials and he should apologize, Whitman said it was the right thing to do.
“I’m sorry for what I said, how I said it, I’m sorry that I offended people, I’m sorry that people felt offended.” he explained.
Whitman said he still feels a better outcome could have been reached by the RCMP officer in the original incident, adding he won’t be muzzled going forward, but plans on expressing himself in a more respectful way.
One of the two people who filed an official complaint, Jim Hoskins, told NEWS 95.7 he accepts the apology and hopes Whitman continues to use Twitter to communicate with residents.
“It takes a lot of courage to come out and say what he did,” said Hoskins.
He added he hopes council will consider setting up a roundtable with police to improve relations and find a better way to work together.
