Essex councillor rebukes integrity head's report, calls outcry over tweets an 'organized hit job'
Council votes 6-1 in favour of report, which recommends he remove controversial tweets
In a fiery speech to Essex town council Monday evening, Coun. Chris Vander Doelen refused to apologize for tweets decried as "racist" and "anti-Asian" that have sparked widespread outrage, and indicated he won't follow any requirements imposed on him by council.
"I would be letting down far too many residents in Ward 3 and the rest of the people of Essex if I submit to this giant lie in any way," Vander Doelen told the virtual meeting.
"I will not be taking down my perfectly reasonable tweets which also happen to be true."
In his report presented to council Monday, Robert Swayze, the town's integrity commissioner, recommends that council require Vander Doelen to remove the offending tweets, including ones referring to COVID-19 as the "Chinese flu," from his account.
Swayze also said the councillor should prepare a draft apology to be read aloud at an open session of council that would be approved by the commissioner, and attend in-person diversity and inclusion training.
Swayze said if Vander Doelen doesn't complete what's asked of him by July 19, he should be suspended without pay for 60 days.
"Do a proper apology. I cannot accept that he did not know the impact on the Chinese-Canadian community of his tweets," Swayze said, adding he received more complaints about this matter than any other in his 13 years in the position.
Vander Doelen, a former writer for the Windsor Star, said he too saw the biggest response to the tweets that he's ever seen in his time as a councillor or a journalist.
"Nearly all those that reached out to me assured me that I did nothing wrong whatsoever and have nothing to apologize for, no matter what a trumped-up investigation says."
Vander Doelen called the commissioner's finding a "bureaucratic overreach" and said he has no authority over the comments or actions of a councillor that have no relationship to the municipality.
"Mr. Swayze has no sway over my political views or my use of language nor those of anyone else."
Diversity training for all suggested
In a prepared statement that lasted over eight minutes, Vander Doelen said he rejects the conclusion of the report, and the complaints that led to it were a complete waste of administration and council's time.
"There was nothing racist, or remotely hateful or even vaguely insulting about my tweets, and it is slanderous to suggest that," he said.
"It is absurd to suggest I am insulting Chinese-Canadians. Who would do that? I've known many of the leaders of the Essex-Windsor Chinese community since the 1980s. As everyone knows, they are some of the most learned, accomplished, productive and downright decent people in town."
Council voted 6-1 in favour of the recommendations, with only Vander Doelen's vote rejecting them.
Mayor Larry Snively, who initially had called on Vander Doelen to apologize, wasn't at the meeting. No reason was given for his absence.
Following Vander Doelen's comments Coun. Steve Bjorkman said he was both a colleague and friend of Vander Doelen. He said he knows Vander Doelen isn't a racist, but anyone who didn't realize the Trump administration had weaponized the term Chinese flu was just "not being real" and Vander Doelen's actions were a breach of the town's code of conduct.
"I do believe we are held to a higher standard and I do believe our words matter more than most people's, and we need to weigh those things out carefully," said Bjorkman.
Coun. Sherry Bondy also suggested that all council members take diversity training together.
Dozens of letters sent to integrity head
But Vander Doelen said he's a victim in a "well-organized" cancel movement, at one point referring to it as an "organized hit job" and pointing at hateful comments posted about him and his family on social media.
He referred to a "fake outrage mob" that claims words such as his are responsible for anti-Asian attacks seen in U.S. inner-cities, and said the commissioner's "wrong-headed report" supports their "woke fantasy".
"You know, the people behind this are the same people who, when they aren't defacing state statues and trying to eliminate our history, and our borders, and our police departments and genders are finding racism under every living room couch," said Vander Doelen.
"The only reason we're sitting here discussing this tweet is that a group of protesters, activists and a rag-tag cancel culture army from outside Essex are trying to take down an effective local conservative voice."
Watch Vander Doelen's response to the integrity commissioner's report here:
Coun. Morley Bowman said he did go through the roughly 80 letters submitted to the integrity commissioner from the public, and while some were in a common format, others came from individuals he knows and respects, and some are from the Asian community.
"I know it did have an effect on them and for that reason alone, I think it's important that we follow through on the integrity commission's recommendations," said Bowman.
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