Bylsma not backing down on ‘all lives matter’ statement
West Lincoln mayor violated township council’s code of conduct
- The Standard (St. Catharines)
- ALLAN BENNER THE ST. CATHARINES STANDARD
Despite being reprimanded by the council he leads and being ordered to undergo sensitivity training, West Lincoln Mayor Dave Bylsma said he continues to believe in statements he made in June, described by complainants as “racist, homophobic and disrespectful of citizens who are not of his ilk.”
“I’m disappointed,” Bylsma said in an interview Tuesday, the morning after township councillors voted to implement most of the recommendations of integrity commissioner Daria Peregoudova from Aird & Berlis LLP.
Peregoudova’s investigation determined the mayor contravened three sections of the township’s code of conduct.
As a result of complaints about comments Bylsma made during a June 11 radio interview with CKTB 610, the integrity commissioner determined the mayor contravened a section of the code that calls for councillors to show respect and equal treatment; as well as a section that prevents harassment or discrimination.
Peregoudova also determined Bylsma contravened his duty to serve constituents in a conscientious and diligent manner by failing to communicate having received a request from Pride Niagara to raise the organization’s flag at township hall during Pride Week.
Although Bylsma was given 90 days to complete sensitivity training, he said he has already completed half that training as a result of Niagara Region’s inclusive municipalities initiative.
Still, he stood by the comments he made that led to the complaints against him in the first place.
“I mean, I thought I understood all lives matter to be an inclusive broad term, and I guess it has a connotation that I don’t understand anymore,” he said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
That statement, often used to criticize the Black Lives Matter movement, has itself been criticized for failing to recognize systemic racism and implying that all lives are equally at risk when statistics show they are not.
But Bylsma said: “If I truly believe that all lives matter, there’s no issue is there?”
“If you’re alive, you matter,” he added. “You can’t get much simpler than that.”
When concerns about failing to recognize systemic racism were pointed out to him, Bylsma said “if all lives matter, wouldn’t that matter to me as well?”
“I’m telling you that’s the truth — all lives matter,” he added. “If that’s now considered pejora
tive speech or loaded speech, then I guess the media, they’ve captured something.”
Township councillors also voted to carry on with developing a new flag-raising policy, to post a previous apology from the mayor on West Lincoln’s website and social media sites, and subject the mayor to exercising improved diligence with respect to the management of electronic communications and requests.
Ward 3 Smithville Coun. Cheryl Ganann, who chaired Monday night’s meeting, said only one recommendation from the integrity commissioner was not implemented; It called for sensitivity training for all members of council.
“If, as a council, we opted to do it at some time in the future, we didn’t want it connected to this decision,” Ganann said. “No one was objecting to having such training, but we didn’t want that connected to the integrity commissioner report because those things were directed at Mayor Bylsma.”
“My hope is coming out of this is that this will be the end of that, and we can just get back to being West Lincoln. We have a wonderful community,” she said.
Ward 2 Gainsborough Coun. Harold Jonker was alone in opposing the motion to implement the integrity commissioner’s recommendations against Bylsma.
“I don’t support what council did. I actually agree with the mayor that all lives matter,” he said.
Jonker called it “mind-boggling” to say Bylsma needs sensitivity training.
“He’s a very caring person … He’s a man that cares about his community, cares about his family, cares about where things are going.”
Although Pride Niagara chair Enzo Dedivitiis called Bylsma’s response to council’s decision “really unfortunate,” he said he hasn’t given up hope that the mayor may yet understand the concerns.
“People make mistakes and part of evolving is learning. As long as we together are learning and changing in a positive direction, that’s what being an ally is.”
Saleh Waziruddin from the Niagara Region Anti Racism Coalition said he, too, was pleased with council’s decision.
“Everybody can benefit from education,” he said. “We definitely hope the mayor benefits from it, but that other people are also open to undergoing the same type of training.”
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