The investigator appointed to look into whether Victoria Coun. Susan Kim breached the city’s code of conduct is recommending no sanctions be imposed on the rookie politician.
In a 23-page report submitted last week, Marisa Cruikshank, a Vancouver-based lawyer with Lidstone & Co., concluded while Kim did breach one section of the code of conduct bylaw by failing to make it clear her social media views were her own, no sanction was warranted as the breach was inadvertent.
Cruikshank, who specializes in human rights, labour and employment law, was appointed Dec. 5 to investigate after a Victoria resident alleged Kim breached the conduct bylaw by signing a letter titled “Stand with Palestine: Call on Political Leaders to End Their Complicity in Genocide” and by liking a post on the social media platform X.
The complaint alleges Kim’s conduct discriminated against Jewish members of the community and that she failed to treat city residents with respect.
The letter, which was signed by 2,100 others, cast doubt on the validity of reports of sexual violence during the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war. It called for Canadian political leaders to seek an immediate ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors in Gaza.
The social media post Kim “liked” was posted by an organization called Nodutdol, a non-profit representing diasporic Koreans. The post stated: “The Palestinian people are waging a war for liberation — and nothing less. Power to every Palestinian fighting for their freedom, and glory to every martyr who dies fighting. For every martyr that falls, a new one will rise.”
“I think the proper characterization of councillor Kim’s breach is that it was inadvertent. I do not think she was aware that her communications would fall within the scope of the bylaw,” Cruikshank wrote in her report. “She believed she was signing the letter and liking the tweet in her personal life.”
Cruikshank said Kim could benefit from training on the bylaw, which outlines the standards and values expected. “However, I do not recommend training be imposed as a sanction because I think training would benefit council as a whole.”
In a statement provided to the Times Colonist on Monday, Kim’s legal counsel, Noah Ross, said they were pleased by the results of the investigation, calling it an “important victory for freedom of speech.”
“The findings of Ms. Cruickshank’s report maintained the threshold of what indeed constitutes personal opinion versus hate speech, which is crucial to uphold as we see growing polarization and instances of actual hate-based actions in our communities,” Ross said.
“We feel that the investigation has correctly highlighted that elected officials at any level of government may continue to feel strongly about global issues.”
Council will have the final say in how to deal with the matter and will consider it Thursday.
If council chooses to sanction Kim, it can do a number of things including address a letter of reprimand to her, demand a letter of apology, recommend training, suspend her or terminate employment on committees, task forces or other bodies.
Kim had asked in May that the complaint be dismissed on the grounds the code of conduct bylaw only permits complaints to be submitted by council members, committee members and employees.
However, Cruikshank refused, as the bylaw does not preclude a council member from submitting a complaint written by a member of the public. In this case, Mayor Marianne Alto agreed to act as the complainant.
The complaint alleges the letter Kim signed contained offensive, false and misleading information, and encouraged or incited antisemitism, putting Jews, including those in Victoria’s Jewish community, at risk.
It also alleged the letter cast doubt on documented crimes by Hamas, and that by signing it Kim had discriminated against the Jewish community.
In her submissions to the investigator, Kim said she signed the letter with her name followed by “city councillor” and said she wanted to show how she was involved in civil society. She said she purposely omitted reference to the City of Victoria to avoid a specific connection to her role. She said someone else, without her knowledge, later added the Victoria information and highlighted that she was a politician.
As for liking the social media post, Kim told the investigator her X account was for personal use and not city business.
She said she liked the post several weeks after Oct. 7, when it was first posted, with the intention of showing support for the people of Palestine who were being bombed, invaded and occupied. Cruikshank agreed with Kim that neither the letter nor Kim’s support of it constitute hate speech, as that term is interpreted at law.
“People may fairly consider some of the language used in the letter to be offensive and inflammatory … but I do not find that it constitutes or incites hatred against Jewish people, who are not referred to in the letter,” she wrote.
Cruikshank also concluded that Kim’s actions were neither discriminatory nor disrespectful.
“The letter is critical of Canadian politicians and of Israel and uses language that people may find offensive, inflammatory and false. However, I cannot conclude that Councillor Kim’s intent in signing the letter was to discriminate against anyone on the basis of their Jewish identity,” she wrote.
“Signing the letter and liking the tweet communicate political views that are protected expression under the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms],” Cruikshank added. “Her views do not lose their protection because some may consider them to be inflammatory, offensive and even repugnant.”
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