Integrity commissioner says councillor's tweets 'racist' and calls for apology

The integrity commissioner for the Town of Essex is recommending to council that a councillor who referred to COVID-19 as the "Chinese flu" offer an apology.

Commissioner Robert Swayze recommends that Coun. Chris Vander Doelen make the apology before a council meeting, in addition to attending a diversity and inclusion session and deleting the tweet in question as well as several others from his account.

If Vander Doelen doesn't complete the three actions set out within the recommendations with three months, his pay should be suspended for two months, the commissioner wrote.

The integrity commissioner's report is contained within the agenda for the upcoming May 17 meeting of Essex town council. Members are expected to vote on whether they will adopt the integrity commissioner's recommendations.

Swayze said he received around 80 complaints from local residents and beyond in wake of Vander Doelen's tweets last month, including from many people with Asian backgrounds.

"I have served as integrity commissioner for multiple municipalities over the past 13 years and have never experienced an outpouring of such emotion over the behaviour of a member of Council. In that time my voice mailbox has never been filled until now," Swayze wrote.

Zhenzhong Ma, president of the Chinese Association of Greater Windsor, said Friday the community is glad to see "actions have been taken on Mr. Vander Doelen's racist remarks."

"The message is clear: There is no room for racism in Canada, and we shall hold the offenders accountable for such speech or behaviours," he said in a statement.

"I do feel that his recommendations do fall a bit short. in the notion that he did not recommend that Mr. Varner Doelen to step down should he not follow through with the recommendations," says Sarorn Sim, former Vice President of the Cambodia Cultural Association.

"It goes to show that his words do matter, and his words do hurt." 

Vander Doelen tweeted about his COVID-19 diagnosis on April 9, referring to the illness as the "Chinese flu."

He has not deleted the tweet despite the integrity investigation and public backlash, some of which referenced the rise in racism toward Asian Canadians amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The other tweets the commissioner wants Vander Doelen to take down include the terms "China Virus, the Chinese Origin Virus and/or the Murderous China Regime."

Swayze wrote that in the past, he has defended municipal councillors' right to freedom of expression and latitude to speak out strongly on controversial topics.

"I cannot do so in this case," he wrote. "There is a need for sensitivity by all public figures, particularly when they use terms which are considered racist and have resulted in hate crimes across North America. There can be no doubt that his tweets would be considered racist given the public reaction in Canada to the same statements made by the former president of the United States," he wrote.

In an interview with CBC News last month, Vander Doelen offered a qualified apology to anyone he "inadvertently offended," but also said he should be able to speak freely about the origins of the virus.

"I apologize, again, to Asian-Canadians I have inadvertently offended. I meant no racist intent. I'm very sorry if they took that wrong, and maybe I could have worded it better," he said.

He said he has no regrets about talking about his illness "and where it came from," saying that a "mob" has arisen that is trying to prevent people like him from talking about it.

Councillor says criticism an 'organized political hit'

With the report, Vander Doelen was asked to respond to complaints received by the commissioner.

Among his comments is that he has taken down one of the tweets in question, but refuses to delete the "Chinese virus" tweet "to leave the evidence so that people can judge for themselves" whether the comment is racist. He compared using that term to referring to "German Measles."

Vander Doelen also sent along 50 emails from his supporters, and claimed some of the dissent was a result of a "well-organized political hit."

Swayze disputed that characterization, saying the complaints were "sincere, diverse and prepared spontaneously."