Can a city councillor call people ‘idiots' on Facebook? A judge will decide

Montreal Gazette

2 days ago

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Can a municipal councillor insult others on social media — calling them 'idiots,' 'morons' and much worse — if the exchange has nothing to do with their official duties?
That question was put to Quebec administrative judge Sandra Bilodeau on Wednesday during an ethics hearing involving Andrew Caddell, an anglophone rights advocate and town councillor in Kamouraska.
At the heart of the case is a long, heated Facebook exchange about anglophones, conducted in French on New Year's Eve, in which Caddell commented.
Topics included Bill 96, Quebec's language law reform, which Caddell described as 'discriminatory.'
After investigating a complaint, the Quebec Municipal Commission determined Caddell likely contravened Kamouraska's ethics rules 13 times, citing conduct that was 'disrespectful or uncivil' and lacking in 'honour.'
He could be fined up to $4,000 or suspended from his elected duties for up to 90 days.
At the hearing, Laurie Beaulieu, a lawyer for the commission, noted that Caddell's Facebook profile mentions that he is a Kamouraska councillor, and he mentioned it on 10 occasions during the Facebook discussion.
Beaulieu said Caddell told some individuals to 'go f--- themselves' and called others morons, idiots, bigots and losers. He also used the abbreviation 'TDC,' which, in context, clearly was shorthand for the French word for 'a--hole,' she said.
She said the words used breached Kamouraska's ethics code, which forbids councillors from engaging in 'offensive, disparaging, or intimidating actions, or any form of incivility of a vexatious nature.'
Elected officials are entitled to express their opinions freely, Beaulieu said.
But their position requires them to do so with restraint, and Caddell's behaviour was 'objectively contrary to the honour and dignity of the office.'
Beaulieu added: 'Mr. Caddell has the right to express his views on the Charter of the French Language — that is not under debate today. However, he must do so while respecting the rules of ethics and professional conduct.'
Caddell is president of the Task Force on Linguistic Policy, which has raised more than $200,000 to finance a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Bill 96. He's also a columnist with the Hill Times, an Ottawa political publication.
Michael Bergman, a lawyer representing Caddell, argued that the comments, which he described as 'hard, difficult, strong, emotional, and passionate,' were made outside of Caddell's duties as a councillor.
'They had nothing to do with the needs, policies, affairs, or operations of the municipality of Kamouraska,' Bergman said.
'It was an exchange — a difficult one with intense words, without a doubt — between people regarding linguistic and minority questions across Quebec and Canada.'
Elected municipal officials must be able to exercise their freedom of expression, he said, adding there is no precedent of a municipal councillor being subject to an ethics complaint for social media activity unrelated to their municipal role.
Bergman described Caddell's French as 'exemplary,' noting that in the online discussion, he simply used 'street language — the kind of everyday talk Quebecers don't take issue with.'
One should also consider the context of the Facebook discussion, he said.
He pointed out that Caddell was under intense attack from others. Among other things, he was called a racist, a 'Rhodesian' and a 'supremacist' and told to 'take the 401 and screw off.'
Bergman argued Caddell should be cleared in part because of a discrepancy between the English and French versions of Kamouraska's ethics code.
In French, it refers to councillors being respectful toward 'citizens,' while the English one says 'citizens of the municipality.'
Bergman said there's no proof anyone in the Facebook discussion — on the page operated by political commentator and former politician Nic Payne — was a resident of Kamouraska.
For her part, Beaulieu cited the French version of the code.
She said it's clear from the context that 'the notion of citizen must be interpreted broadly and liberally. (The code) in no way establishes that the term 'citizen' is limited to residents of the same municipality as the elected official.'
The judge gave the two sides two weeks to submit briefs regarding the discrepancy between the French and English versions of the ethics code.
A ruling is expected within three months.
Caddell was elected as a councillor in Kamouraska, a municipality (population 607) in the Bas-St-Laurent region, in 2021. Caddell is a former Montreal West town commissioner who ran for the federal Liberals in 2011.