THUNDER BAY – A decision by Thunder Bay's city council to sanction Coun. Aldo Ruberto for online comments about an ongoing police investigation will be up for debate Monday, as council considers whether to ratify that February vote.
Council only narrowly accepted a recommendation from the city's integrity commissioner to dock Ruberto's pay with a 6-4 vote on Feb. 7.
There’s a real possibility the decision could be reversed Monday, given the close two-vote margin, and the fact that two councillors who were absent on Feb. 7 – Couns. Trevor Giertuga and Brian McKinnon – will be able to vote on ratification.
The ratifying vote, a regular procedure at council, was delayed to March 14 at Ruberto’s request so he could be present. He will not be able to vote, having declared a conflict.
However, he said he has spoken with council colleagues about the issue, and will urge them Monday to reverse the Feb. 7 vote, calling it an opportunity for “sober second thought.”
“I hope it’s going to be overturned,” he said in an interview Friday.
The commissioner’s report concluded Ruberto had violated the city’s code of conduct with comments he made on Facebook on Oct. 6, 2021, as reports emerged on social media that a man had driven his truck over a tent at an abandoned gas bar at County Fair mall that had become a gathering place for people experiencing homelessness.
The use of the gas bar for shelter had sparked tensions, with the city days earlier backing down on a plan to fence it off with police support.
“I hope it is a case of the wind blowing a tent and hitting the truck,” Ruberto wrote. “And not a truck purposely running over a stationary tent. The safety of people is the ultimate goal.”
The man was charged later that day with dangerous driving.
Ruberto’s comments broke the widely-accepted convention that leaders shouldn’t comment on matters before the court or under active police investigation, the report found.
It also raised broader concerns over Ruberto’s use of social media, saying it risked amplifying misinformation, and that his tendency to block some users, including a journalist who pressed him on Facebook on his comments in this case, was problematic.
On Feb. 7, council accepted the commissioner’s recommendation to suspend Ruberto’s pay for five days (amounting to about $593), and to explore developing specific social media guidelines for councillors.
Ruberto has dismissed the report as an example of “cancel culture," saying accepting it could chill councillors’ ability to speak out, a contention that resonated with some colleagues.
“I’m hoping council will make the right decision,” he said. “To me, if I can’t express my opinion about an incident… I think that’s wrong. I think the community wants us as leaders to speak out when certain incidents happen.”
He said he also plans to bring up the cost of the investigation on Monday.
Ruberto's defiant response was cited by Principles Integrity, the firm providing integrity commissioner services to the city, as proof of why a sanction was required.
Its report noted several previous complaints about Ruberto's online conduct had been resolved after informal discussions with the councillor, but said that had failed to produce a change in behaviour.
