A motion to censure a Niagara regional councillor in St. Catharines, Ont., for posting an anti-Semitic video on Twitter was referred to the purview of a newly reinstated regional integrity commissioner.
At a regional council meeting Dec. 8, Pelham mayor Dave Augustyn introduced a motion to censure Andy Petrowski, who found himself at the centre of controversy when the St. Catharines Standard reported on his Nov. 20 tweet linking to a video from an anti-Semitic website called Real Jew News.
READ: ST. CATHARINES COUNCILLOR DENIES HE’S ANTI-SEMITIC
The video opens with a man who goes by “Brother Nathanael Kapner” claiming that the election of U.S. President Barack Obama was a plan hatched by “a group of wealthy Chicago Jews back in the ’90s.” It goes on to list “Obama’s Jewish handlers” and then cuts to a clip of president-elect Donald Trump criticizing Obama for what he calls a lack of transparency.
After learning of the tweet, Harold Nash, president of St. Catharines’ Congregation B’nai Israel, contacted Niagara regional Chair Alan Caslin and asked him to censure Petrowski.
Petrowski has since removed the tweet and denied that he is anti-Semitic. He told The CJN when the story broke that he only posted the video in question to highlight the “Trump part” and stressed that he has a “fond affection for the Jewish community.”
At the Dec. 8 meeting, Augustyn asked that regional council bar Petrowski from serving on any committees or boards until he makes a public apology in writing for his tweet and undergoes sensitivity training.
But the region’s director of legal and court services, Jennifer Feren, said that councillors should be entitled to due process and that a censure should only follow a finding of fault resulting from an investigation, the Standard reported.
As a result, the motion was referred to the integrity commissioner at the suggestion of St. Catharines Mayor Walter Sendzik, who told The CJN after initial reports of the anti-Semitic tweet he was extremely upset by it, calling it “the latest example of the kind of vitriol and hate-mongering [Petrowski’s] been known to do as an elected official.”
Last summer, Caslin sought an apology from Petrowski for a tweet referring to gay pride as “a sin.” In 2015, Petrowski was criticized for a controversial tweet he posted about same-sex marriage.
At the Dec. 8 meeting, council voted 24-2 to reinstate the position of integrity commissioner – it was scrapped by council in February 2015 – to monitor councillors’ behaviour.
Until a permanent integrity commissioner is hired, Toronto-based lawyer John Mascarin, who acts as integrity commissioner to St. Catharines, will serve on an interim basis and look at complaints about councillors’ conduct dating back to February 2015.
Augustyn told The CJN that he’d like to see Petrowski, who did not attend the Dec. 8 meeting, apologize to the Jewish community.
He said he spoke to Nash before the meeting and shares his concerns about anti-Semitism.
“When people think about regional councillors, they think of them as representing the broader community. To spread these kinds of anti-Semitic and other comments is not appropriate. We have a code of conduct that states unequivocally that we must… recognize the dignity of all cultures, religions and ethnicities… We need to adhere to that code… and not only when we’re in the council chambers,” Augustyn said.
Nash said the reinstatement of an integrity commissioner is “the best, frankly, that I could expect, knowing what little power the regional chair had over Petrowski’s actions.”
Before council voted to bring back an integrity commissioner, several concerned citizens spoke and emphasized that action should be taken to address Petrowski’s social media activity.
One of them was Perry Schlanger, a Jewish high school teacher who lives in St. Catharines. After reading about Petrowski’s tweet in the Standard, he said he called up the councillor directly and asked for his account of what happened.
“He told me he… was only directing people toward the Trump segment of the video and has the highest regard for the Jewish community… I felt his explanation was unsatisfactory… I didn’t find him sincere,” Schlanger said.
Schlanger said he’s concerned that the committee in charge of hiring a permanent integrity commissioner “is dominated by people who support Petrowski.”
“Honestly, I’m less concerned about Petrowski and more about the people supporting him and those who aren’t standing up and condemning him,” Schlanger said.
Efforts to reach Petrowski to comment for this story were unsuccessful.
HED: Integrity watchdog to probe councillor who posted anti-Semitic tweet
