Greater Sudbury’s brushes with political turmoil and misinformation pale in comparison to that experienced in the City of Pickering lately, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of reach.
In Pickering, a city council member’s rhetoric-filled social media activity on political platforms has escalated to a point where activists have been threatening city staff and council members.
Their activity has reportedly followed the well-worn beats of the far right, including anti-2SLGBTQ+ sentiment and allegations levied for such things as pedophilia, without evidence. Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe described city council member Lisa Robinson and her supporters as using “overblown rhetoric” in their anti-city hall comments, and affiliating themselves with the “alt-right.”
A video critical of Robinson’s alleged wrongdoings was posted on the City of Pickering’s YouTube page late last month.
All public meetings in Pickering have shifted to online-only as a security measure in reaction to Robinson allegedly turning alt-right activists against the city.
In its latest update on Jan. 7, the City of Pickering issued another media release in which they support CAO Marisa Carpino in reaction to Robinson releasing a video which made “unfounded and inappropriate remarks on Ms. Carpino’s character and intentions.”
This, within a broader political climate in which incoming United States President Donald Trump has set a precedent by routinely misleading the public, the New York Times declaring this “the age of post-truth politics” as far back as 2016 and Meta (Facebook, Instagram and Threads) has begun plans to suspend fact-checking.
Greater Sudburians have seen this surge of misinformation in people handing out “Druthers,” a a right-biased publication that often pushes conspiracist ideas, One Million March for Children protesters who have been widely criticized for spreading falsehoods about the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and so-called Freedom Convoy protesters, a group initially defined by their opposition to vaccine mandates using COVID-19 misinformation regarding alleged dangers of vaccines and masks.
Then, there are Greater Sudburians who aren’t necessarily involved in these groups, but spread misinformation targeting city council members and staff on local social media pages.
Misinformation has also hit the airwaves through the Sudbury News Talk radio show on CKLU. Sudbury.com monitored the radio show for a month in late 2023 for a story which did not materialize, and heard host Aaron Walsh share various conspiracy theories, misinformation about COVID-19, anti-trans rhetoric and clips from far-right news outlets such as The Post Millennial and True North News. A recent listen revealed that the radio program’s penchant for spreading misinformation has persisted.
Although disruptors’ voices are being amplified at a lower volume in Greater Sudbury than in Pickering for the time being, there’s no reason to believe it can’t reach a similar decibel.
Disruptions by elected officials
Disruptions from within the ranks of Greater Sudbury city council have been minimal compared to what has taken place in Pickering.
On this front, past city council member Michael Vagnini, who died in early 2024, was notable for having spread alleged misinformation about the city’s homeless community and being kicked off the police board by city council as a result. He frequently disrupted meetings with outbursts, and is the only member to have been kicked out of a meeting during council’s current term.
Within council chambers, Vagnini repeatedly pushed a narrative that there were hundreds of millions of dollars “off the books” within the City of Greater Sudbury’s finances, which staff clarified to be false.
In recent months, city integrity commissioner David Boghosian has been busy dealing with alleged Code of Conduct breaches by elected officials, some of which involving alleged misinformation shared by members to targeted city staff with criticism. The most public example of this came from Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbée, who claimed in an open letter that she did not know about 2023 wage hikes to non-union city managers, despite evidence that city council was informed. Boghosian concluded that Labbée sought “to distance herself” from the 2023 wage hikes “in order to salvage her own political fortunes,” which she has denied.
City council conduct is overseen by the same or similar processes in place throughout Ontario municipalities, city solicitor and clerk Eric Labelle told Sudbury.com.
“I find we always feel that we’re experiencing something unique, and then we speak to our colleagues in other municipalities and these things are generally occurring throughout the province,” he said.
The integrity commissioner is able to recommend city council members face up to 90 days of remuneration suspension in the event they’re found to have breached the city’s Code of Conduct, and city council members vote on whether to proceed with recommended penalties.
Outside of that, and the ability of city council to kick members off of committees and those meetings they disrupt, there’s not much the City of Greater Sudbury or its elected officials can do about problem members in the event voters decide to elect a local version of Pickering’s Lisa Robinson.
There’s nothing in place to remove city council members entirely, Labelle said, unless a member were to relocate from the municipality, serve a sentence in a penitentiary or breach the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
A potential penalty for breaching election rules could also include removal from office, but Labelle clarified, “That would be in the much-more serious cases.”
(The only current case of alleged election rule breaches involves Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc. His case is currently before the courts and primarily centres on whether he should have accounted for a Grandparents’ Day event as part of his election finances as a campaign expense.)
Although there are no direct Lisa Robinson parallels in Greater Sudbury, at least two candidates in the 2022 civic election expressed support for conspiracy theories well-established to be false.
Prior to the 2022 civic election, mayoral candidate Miranda Rocca-Circelli shared support on social media for the Freedom Convoy. This included her spreading misinformation on Facebook regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. Although she denied supporting “a truck convoy” during a public debate and written statement, evidence did not support her claim.
In late 2023, Sudbury Catholic District School Board member Stefano Presenza resigned after his past social media activity came to light, which reportedly included such things as anti-trans and anti-Semitic material and the promotion of the 15-minute city conspiracy theory.
With limited means of ousting members once elected, Greater Sudburians will likely have to deal with whomever they vote in during the Oct. 26, 2026, civic election for a full four-year term.
Disruptions outside of city council
Lacking a direct local parallel to Pickering’s Lisa Robinson, Greater Sudbury’s strongest similarity to the southern Ontario city’s political strife comes via disruptions led by people outside of city council.
This was most notable during Mayor Paul Lefebvre’s series of town hall-style meetings throughout 2023, which were repeatedly disrupted by Freedom Convoy members, some of whom followed various stops along the mayor’s tour of 12 municipal wards.
Among their most frequent interruptions centered on the 15-minute city conspiracy theory, which conflates various municipal planning practices with “the great reset” conspiracy theory which would see elites dismantle capitalism and force people into highly surveiled holding pens.
“I think people more than ever want to be heard,” Lefebvre told Sudbury.com this week while reflecting on these meetings. “Because of the ability to mobilize easier on social media, the ones who want to be heard easily find others who feel the same way.”
Indeed, Lefebvre’s 2023 meeting schedule was shared on a local Freedom Convoy Facebook page, where members encouraged others to show up to voice their concerns as a united front.
Reluctant to define these groups of people by using labels in conversation with Sudbury.com, Lefebvre said they were people with concerns he was willing to hear out, and that he respected their means of expression, even in cases where he disagreed with their conclusions.
He also refrained from using the word “misinformation,” and instead used, “other information.”
“At every meeting, I stayed for another hour after the meeting so they could ask me questions directly,” He said. “I didn’t run away from anyone who had a different opinion than me.”
During at least a couple of these meetings, Sudbury.com saw crowds at times swarm Lefebvre following a question-and-answer period, some of whom speaking in aggressive tones. There was security present, but Lefebvre said he has not felt unsafe at any point during his time as mayor.
In March 2024, Freedom Convoy protesters disrupted an open house meeting at Tom Davies Square centered on the city’s Nodes and Corridors Strategy with their concerns about the 15-minute city. A few weeks prior to that, a similar group led by local Freedom Convoy member Eric Bellefeuille disrupted a city council meeting to oppose municipal climate change action. They distributed print-outs of their own research that they purported to discredit the impacts of human-caused climate change, despite overwhelming evidence which roundly disproves their misinterpretation of experts’ work.
The city has increased security measures in recent years, which Labelle said hasn’t been in response to any one particular group but a broader progression in how municipalities operate.
“What I’ve seen in my years at the city is a general increase in security measures, not just in council and committee meetings, but in securing municipal facilities with a view to protecting staff, members of council,” Labelle said.
“The pandemic was difficult for everyone, and it did create some situations where persons were frustrated with the circumstances, and interactions became more difficult because some of our facilities were not accessible to the public and we were doing more things online and over the telephone.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, municipal operations expanded to deal with more homelessness and addictions issues than they did in the past, Labelle said.
“Municipal governments are the level of government that has the most interaction with residents on the day-to-day,” Labelle said. “Frustrations more easily boil over.”
In 2023, the city adopted a "frivolous and vexatious” complaints policy which aims to protect city staff from abusive behaviour from the public.
As for social media pages spreading misinformation about municipal staff, Labelle said there’s not much they can do.
“It is challenging when staff are criticized or accused of things, in that city staff are not able to defend themselves,” he said. “It’s a difficult thing. The city obviously supports its staff at every step possible, but engaging in a back-and-forth with persons on social media is not something that we would get into.”
In some cases, city staff might set the record straight via a media release, but in many instances, misinformation simply spreads on social media unchecked.
“The ability to make allegations and accusations online anonymously has led to this type of environment, where sometimes people can accuse others of things without any consequence,” Labelle said.
“The city operates in a fish bowl, because much of what we do is open and transparent for everyone to see, and so that leads to very public discussions about our services that, to an extent, you typically wouldn’t see in private enterprises or other employers, so that’s challenging to deal with in that specific environment.
“We manage by providing the best services that we can day in and day out and supporting our staff, but it’s definitely challenging when staff are being accused of things in the public without any evidence.”
A rare example of this from outside of social media took place in late 2023, when Road Surface Recycling vice president technology and research Frank Crupi spoke at a public event hosted by Our Towns Our City Institute, a community group headed by city hall critic Tom Price.
Without evidence, Crupi lobbed claims of bribery, incompetence and nepotism at named city staff members. The three city council members who attended the meeting were censured by Archer for their involvement in the meeting, and two of them received pay suspensions for alleged breaches of the city’s Code of Conduct during the meeting.
City council members respond
Sudbury.com reached out to all 13 city council members regarding harassment and misinformation. We received responses from four of them, including Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent, Ward 2 Coun. Eric Benoit, Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbée and Mayor Paul Lefebvre.
“100 per cent I have noticed a change in public discourse over the past several years and it seemed to reach a head during the pandemic,” Benoit said.
“There is so much false information out there that it can be hard to tell if a source is reputable. Plus, with the level of anonymity created by social media, people are more emboldened to express their beliefs and spread false information that supports their views.”
It’s unclear what the solution is, he said, adding, “The tricky part is that by confronting those spreading the information you often cause them to escalate.”
“As a society, we all need to be better at treating each other with respect,” Benoit said. “I may not agree with what someone else believes, but I trust that in the end the truth will win out.”
From his view, Parent said he hasn’t noticed any shifts in public discourse since he was first elected two years ago, but that he has noticed frustrations and discontent being expressed online.
“Unfortunately, some of this frustration is a result of others spreading misinformation,” he said, adding that he would continue making himself available to residents to hear their concerns and provide them with the latest factual information.
Labbée’s reaction was among the most pertinent due to her allegation that she has been harassed by Capreol man Frederick Lammi since around the time she was first elected to public office in October 2022. Lammi’s case is currently before the courts, as he has been charged with one count of criminal harassment.
It’s not just him, Labbée told Sudbury.com, adding that there are other people who have spread misinformation online which has targeted her with allegations and left her feeling unsafe.
“If you want to criticize the work we do, that is fine, to a certain extent, but stop being fixated on my personal life because it’s just creepy and unnecessary,” she said. “The fact that I am even consenting to participate in this article is once again just giving those same four or five people an avenue to berate me.”
Labbée said that she has heard of many elected officials who resigned within their first year due to “vitriol and stalking” they’re made to endure from the public.
Although Labbée said that those seeking public office should be prepared to face criticism for the work they do, “there are times when it goes too far.”
“When people attack us on a personal level or develop an unhealthy level of fixation on us and everything we do, places we go or who we are spending time with, that is when it crosses a line,” she said.
“The level of incivility online has drastically increased over the last few years,” she said, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic “did change us as a society in so many ways.”
Past cases involving the harassment of local politicians have included the alleged harassment of then-mayor Brian Bigger on Nov. 16, 2021 (the suspect was released on a peace bond in early 2023), and Nickel Belt Liberal MP Marc Serré being assaulted in his campaign office on Sept. 13, 2021.
What’s next?
The spread of misinformation isn’t exactly a revelation, with Sudbury.com forecasting in early 2022 that the 2022 civic election season would be rampant with misinformation.
Later that year, such topics as city staff compensation levels and tax rates were clarified by Sudbury.com prior to the Oct. 24 election after candidates misrepresented municipal operations.
Social media has continued churning out misinformation, and Sudbury News talk is still on CKLU, where some city council members have been making appearances as interview guests. The most recent appearance was when repeat-guest Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent was interviewed on Dec. 12. In that episode, Parent stuck to facts regarding municipal news.
(Sudbury News Talk host Aaron Walsh shared during the Jan. 6 episode that the show was on a 90-day wait period on Youtube after receiving a second strike following an on-air conversation with co-host and Scentsy consultant Anick Gervais. A few weeks prior on Dec. 18, Walsh called Espanola “an experimental place” when it comes to chemtrails, and that he’d heard that the stuff sprayed over people’s heads every day “has nanotechnology in it, like mini computer chips that you breathe in.” Walsh and Gervais also shared long-refuted anti-vaccine conspiracy theories regarding the use of nanotechnology and DNA alteration.)
Earlier this week, past city council member Robert Kirwan posted on the almost 21,300-member Valley East Today page on Facebook which he moderates that “it appears as though there will be no funding coming” from the province for the Lorraine Street transitional housing project (this unquantified assertion comes in spite of the fact city staff have an application in with the province which they’re still waiting for the results of, a city spokesperson reaffirmed to Sudbury.com on Friday), and that Lefebvre used strong mayor powers to enact an organizational redesign of City of Greater Sudbury senior management (Lefebvre told Sudbury.com on Thursday that he did not, nor has he ever, invoked strong mayor powers, and that the management changes were a decision of city council as a whole).
On Jan. 3, Kirwan also alleged that the “true cost” of the downtown arena is $380 million, and not the city’s oft-cited $200 million (Kirwan’s calculation factors in cost estimates for various assumed outcomes for things city council has not made decisions on, including the creation of parking structures, the purchase of additional land and relocating the downtown fire station).
With misinformation continuing to swirl around relatively unchecked, what’s to be done?
Lefebvre said that it’s a matter of simply allowing people of varying views to speak, and for others to hear them out and offer their own facts in response.
There will be respectful disagreements, he said, but city council members have and will continue to move on from disagreements, occasionally “agree to disagree,” and get municipal work accomplished.
As for harassment from members of the public, which is oftentimes fueled by misinformation, Labbée said a little more understanding would go a long way.
“If people had more of an understanding of the complexity of the work we do, the level of commitment and responsibility we have or the sacrifices our families experience because of our public life, they more than likely would be less inclined to say those things,” Labbée said.
Although she said that she has felt uneasy in council chambers at times, Labbée said that the mayor is observant and firm, and that she has faith in his ability to maintain decorum.
“A tendency that consumers have with social media is to go down these rabbit holes,” Shawn Fisher, the owner of social media marketing company PMD Media told Sudbury.com in 2022.
“The more you venture within them the less nuanced the information becomes. Perhaps just stop and focus – hug your dog. It’s really easy to get swept up on all this stuff, and all this stuff is not necessarily what’s the most important.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
