Councillor Allan Hunter has apologized for an offensive image posted to his Twitter account on September 5th.

In an exclusive interview, Councillor Hunter said he was very sorry he posted the image, and explained that he had not meant to post it without commentary decrying it.

"I owe an apology to all of the citizens of Airdrie because my handling of it was terrible. The intent was to put it out there with a stop order. In other words, quit sending me garbage, quit sending me vile things, and obviously that piece didn't get in there."

Hunter explained that he is routinely sent intolerant images, including Confederate flags and swastikas. Hunter was frustrated by those images, which he said distracts him from legitimate correspondences about the community and City business. He explained that he meant to post the image with a caption asking people to stop sending him offensive imagery, and that he would block anyone that continued to do so.

Hunter said what happened next was simply a mistake that he attributed to his lack of skill with social media. The offensive image, which he said he'd received via Twitter, was posted to his own Twitter account without any accompanying explanation.

That ignited a social media controversy. People began questioning Hunter's post, with many pointing out that the image prominently featured a symbol associated with the Strasserism, a strand of Nazism. The post was then deleted without an explanation, fueling the controversy further. Later, Hunter posted a series of screenshots to his Twitter account which he said was meant to clarify the original intent of his post, but which some on social media saw as a deflection.

evin Hughes said he was more than offended by the original image, but felt it pointed to a trend with Hunter.

"It's a pattern of behavior and a pattern of his social media presence that I have a problem with. And it's not just Allan Hunter. If it was Fred Burley, if it was the mayor, Peter Brown, I would be saying the same thing. It needs to be understood that they represent this city 24/7. With social media the way it is today, whatever they tweet, whatever they post on Facebook represents the city. Whether they're trying to tweet as a public citizen or not, they represent Airdrie 24/7."

Hughes said Hunter should be held accountable for the post, but didn't feel it was his place to say what form that should take. He also said that the whole incident illustrates the need for a Council code of conduct that specifically addresses social media.

Council's current code of conduct is silent on social media. Sharon Pollyck, Director of the City Manager's Office, explained that the current code of conduct, which was formalized in 2015, is actually silent on all Councillors' communication. A proposed code of conduct does not address social media specifically, but does address communication generally. Pollyck said social media would fall under that umbrella. That code of conduct is currently tabled pending legal review, and will be brought forward again at the next City Council meeting on September 18.

 

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