Kirwan calls for Sudbury integrity commissioner to resign

Sudbury's Ward 5 Councillor Robert Kirwan has called on the city's integrity commissioner to resign, following findings that Kirwan violated the city's code of conduct.

Robert Swayze, Sudbury's integrity commissioner, said Kirwan violated the code of conduct because of a fake Facebook account managed by his wife, Valerie Kirwan, that engaged in political posts online.

The fake account, under the pseudonym "Jessie Timmons", is an administrator with the Valley East Facebook group that Kirwan and his wife manage.

"He was fully aware of all of his wife's many posts since he is an administrator of his Facebook page. He should have realized that they lack transparency and give the impression that they come from the community," Swayze said in a report.

On July 28, Swayze received a complaint from a citizen who said Kirwan or his wife were making fake posts on the councillor's Facebook group under the name Jessie Timmons.

The complaint also alleged that Kirwan's support for the controversial Kingsway Entertainment District was tied to the councillor receiving benefits from developer Dario Zulich, but Swayze said he could find no such evidence.

The integrity commissioner recommended that council reprimand Kirwan for violating the code of conduct with the fake Facebook account. The next council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 14, when council will discuss the report and decide how to respond.

Swayze also recommended reprimanding Kirwan in September 2019 over complaints that he "abuses and harasses members of the community if they disagree with him," through comments on the Valley East page.

"I don't think I have ever felt as betrayed by anyone during my entire life.- Robert Kirwan

In his open letter calling for Swayze's resignation, Kirwan said his wife needed a second account to perform her admin functions for the Facebook group.

"The use of a second Facebook account under a different name is something that is governed by the terms and conditions of Facebook, not the Code of Conduct for the City of Greater Sudbury," he said in the open letter.

But Facebook's community standards state it is against their terms of service to maintain more than one personal account.

In his open letter Kirwan said the Facebook group falls outside of his responsibilities as a city councillor. "When I am functioning as an administrator of the Valley East group, I am not acting in an official capacity as a Councillor," he said.

Kirwan added his wife Valerie cannot be held accountable to the city's code of conduct, and that he cannot be held accountable for her actions.

"I don't think I have ever felt as betrayed by anyone during my entire life as I have been by the Integrity Commissioner, Mr. Robert Swayze, who has accused me of violating the Code of Conduct for protocols that my wife and I follow as administrators of the Valley East Community Facebook group," Kirwan said in the letter.