Calgary councillor Gian-Carlo Carra apologizes for inappropriate tweets

Calgary councillor Gian-Carlo Carra has apologized to fellow council members for inappropriate tweets he made earlier this year.

The apology came after the integrity commissioner found Carra’s social media posts in February crossed a line.

Carra received complaints from four members of council over the posts.

“While I value disagreement and debate on matters of public interest between members of Council and I view social media as an important venue for such discussions, I stepped over the line in how I engaged in some of those discussions,” said Carra in a signed letter to council.

The tweets in question came amid allegations against councillor Sean Chu.

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“I have regret from the first month of this term & that regret is that I failed to clearly call out my colleagues for signing their names on a notice of motion next to (withheld). We are all stuck with him. But actively politicking with him is not cool,” Carra’s reply-tweet earlier this year read in response to another separate post:  “Reminder: siding with a child molester makes you #NotFitToServe.”

In another tweet, Carra is said to have insinuated that certain council members “support child molesters and are not fit to serve.”

The integrity commissioner’s report notes there is no social media policy for councillors in Cagalry. However, Carra has been directed to work with the ethics advisor and will train in records management to better communicate with council.

“The nature of the first tweet was, in my opinion, offensive and harmful towards the complainants. It suggested support for one of the most egregious forms of criminal behavior a person could commit in our society, child molestation. It also suggested these elected officials
were not fit to serve. Councillor Carra’s response to it, which was likewise negative towards the complainants, was at the very least, disrespectful,” the report from the integrity commissioner reads in part.

“This was an error — a clerical error — and we need to create a better line of sight between members of council and that forum, because it’s put in front of them when they are elected, and then they don’t think about it anymore,” Carra said during his apology at the final Combined Meeting of Council session of the summer this week.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek says council has followed through with the recommendations made by the integrity commission.

“The apology today was simply one portion of it,” said Gondek.

Meanwhile, Carra also issued an apology for a separate incident — during which he failed to adequately disclose his interest in an Inglewood property.

The Ward 9 councillor says it was a paperwork mistake, suggesting the process should be improved.