Ottawa councillor engaged in ‘harassment, intimidation and bullying’ on social media, investigation concludes

Ottawa City Hall in autumn. (CTV News Ottawa)

The City of Ottawa’s integrity commissioner is recommending Coun. Stephanie Plante’s pay be suspended for three days for engaging in “harassment, intimidation and bullying” members of the public on social media during the debate on sprung structures.

In a report for Wednesday’s council meeting, Integrity Commissioner Karen Shepherd ruled Plante violated Section 7 (Discrimination and Harassment) of Ottawa’s Code of Conduct for Members of Council. Council will vote Wednesday on whether to accept the commissioner’s findings and to suspend Plante’s pay for three days.

In a statement, Plante said she “categorically” rejects the findings by the integrity commissioner, adding “this is a curtailment of my freedom of speech. I was engaging in legitimate political debate.”

“We do not have an emoji crisis. This investigation is a waste of valuable taxpayer dollars, city resources and time,” Plante wrote.

In 2024, the City of Ottawa was exploring locations for sprung structures – temporary tent-like structures – to house hundreds of asylum seekers. In July 2024, councillors said locations in Barrhaven, Alta Vista and Orléans had been shortlisted as possible locations.

The proposed Barrhaven location prompted opposition from elected officials, businesses and residents, including posts on social media opposed to the option.

Shepherd says she received formal complaints between Nov. 12 and Dec. 5, alleging that, “within the context of the public debate on Sprung Structures, Coun. Plante engaged in online harassment and intimidation of residents and community stakeholders.”

Shepherd says the formal complaints cite approximately 30 social media posts, with the majority of the social media posts directed at or refer to “Witness 1” who was a member of the group Barrhaven Residents Against Sprung Structures, “Witness 2” who worked for “Witness 3″ while they were an elected official, “Witness 3” who is identified as working as an elected official over 20 years, and “Witness 4” who is identified as a business owner in Barrhaven and a member of the Barrhaven Business Improvement Association. None of the four witnesses were identified in the report.

The timeline of the context of the debate and social media activity in the formal complaints, and interviews with four witnesses and Plante stretches from July 25, 2024, to Nov. 29, 2024. Shepherd says she considered the posts as a whole because the communications were similar in nature with regards to the sprung structure debate and all were posted on social media.

According to Shepherd’s report, on July 25, 2024, a “well-known local media personality” posted about the sprung structure issue on X, and “Witness 4” responded to the post with comments about the proposed uses of the structure.

“(Plante) both challenged Witness 4’s statements about the proposed uses and attempted to provide clarification to the issue,” Shepherd writes. “In one of her posts, (Plante) quote tweeted (i.e. retweeted with comment) Witness 4’s post along with a meme depicting a male character entering a room with the words: ‘Behold a man has arrived to share his manly view.’”

Shepherd said the witness indicated he was offended by the meme and found it to be “pejorative, inappropriate and harassing.” Plante told the integrity commissioner the meme was “intended to convey someone who was commenting beyond their knowledge.”

The report also noted comments on social media between Nov. 8 and 10 after staff said Barrhaven would not be one of the selected sites for a sprung structure. Shepherd’s report said Plante responded to a user on X who had commented on a comment from “Witness 2,” saying “(Witness 2) has been in (Facebook) groups using the same talking posts as (the local MPP) and (Witness 4). It’s also like they are working together.” The report says there was a thinking emoji at the end of the post.

Shepherd concluded Plante contravened the Code of Conduct for council members by engaging in “harassment and intimidation of residents and community leaders on social media.”

“In (Plante’s) social media posts that I examined in this inquiry, I observed a pattern of disrespectful manner of engagement with the witnesses. Councillor Plante’s engagement featured ad hominem remarks, emojis, memes and innuendo, all of which appears to be intended to discredit the witnesses,” Shepherd wrote.

The report notes each witness “had no issue” with Plante arguing the facts, “but each said the personal links between or among those opposed to the sprung structure and Councillor Plane’s comments about those links were irrelevant to the argument at hand.”

In her ruling that Plante violated Section 7 of the Code of Conduct, Shepherd writes, “I found (Plante) engaged in harassment, intimidation and bullying of members of the public through her conduct on social media.”

“Councillor Plante’s conduct caused the witnesses and other members of the public to be intimidated and hesitant about engaging in the public debate about sprung structures. It is unfortunate that a member’s online conduct discouraged legitimate participation in the public debate of this matter.”

Shepherd ruled Plante did not inappropriately disclose personal information about residents in social media posts because it was “already within the public domain.”

According to the report, Plante said she had “proactively deleted the social media posts identified in the formal complaints and expressed an interest in meeting with the complainants to resolve their complaints.” The integrity commissioner said all the complainants declined the offer.

Plante “categorically” rejects integrity commissioner’s findings

In a statement released Friday night, Plante said she “categorically” rejects the findings of the integrity commissioner, saying, “this is a curtailment of my freedom of speech. I was engaging in legitimate political debate.”

“Those of you who know me know that I am informal, direct, and above all, factual,” Plante said.

“I do not shy away from calling people out, nor from saying the quiet part out loud. I use humour and sarcasm, but I am never cruel, and I would never intentionally misrepresent someone.”

Plante noted she did not use profanity in her posts, adding there were no discriminatory comments, hate speech, violence, or threats.

“My engagement on social media is completely within the community standards of X and Facebook. My tone was mild compared to what can be typically found on those platforms.”

In November 2024, the city announced 1645 Woodroffe Ave., near the Nepean Sportsplex, and 40 Hearst Way, at the Eagleson Park and Ride, would be locations for a newcomer welcoming centre. Last March, the city announced it would no longer build sprung structures for newcomers in Nepean and Kanata.