Josh Matlow, Toronto mayoral hopeful and city councillor, reprimanded by his colleagues over tweets criticizing civil servants


Toronto city councillors have reprimanded and docked the pay of colleague Josh Matlow — who plans to run for mayor — over his criticism of two city staff members on Twitter.

Council on Friday accepted, by a vote of 22-1, integrity commissioner Jonathan Batty’s recommendation that Matlow be censured for his conduct and lose 10 days of pay. The dissenting vote was from Coun. Anthony Perruzza.

Batty, in a 51-page report, partially upheld complaints lodged by top-ranking city staff about two tweets in which Matlow accused employees of providing inaccurate information to him and council.

Batty concluded Matlow (Ward 12, Toronto-St. Paul’s) violated provisions of council’s code of conduct that states members must treat city employees respectfully and not engage in reprisals against them.

In a June 16, 2022 tweet, Matlow said he had been “lied to” by city staff about when city staff opened park washrooms for the season.

In a tweet the next month, Matlow said a different senior official was “the very wrong person” to be interim city manager, citing instances including the “violent encampment clearings” of the summer of 2021.

Matlow’s colleagues, including some former civil servants, said he crossed a line by publicly shaming specific staff members who are not allowed to fire back, and noted that council had previously reprimanded him for the same behaviour

Matlow told council: “I should have used a different word” than “lied” when tweeting about the parks bathroom information. He did not apologize for either tweet.

“I’m not going to apologize for advocating for better service standards, opening park bathrooms …” or calling out city staff for believing it’s acceptable to conduct “violent and inhumane clearings on some our city’s most vulnerable,” Matlow said.

Asked how, if elected mayor, he could work with city staff that he has repeatedly and publicly criticized, he said he would place a “firewall” between senior staff and the mayor’s office to ensure they provide independent advice.

He also vowed to “continue to challenge where I see anyone in (city hall) tell lies to Torontonians or do anything that isn’t in the interests of our residents.”

With files from Ben Spurr and Alyshah Hasham

David Rider is the Star’s City Hall bureau chief and a reporter covering city hall and municipal politics. Follow him on Twitter: @dmrider

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