OttawaOttawa’s integrity commissioner has found the Rideau-Vanier councillor’s actions on social media during a debate over the construction of Sprung structures violated the code of conduct. Plante is rejecting the findings, calling them a waste of time and money and questioning the precedent they could set.Findings a ‘waste’ of resources and time, set bad precedent, says councillorCBC News · Posted: Aug 23, 2025 2:15 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoRideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante said she does not accept an integrity commissioner’s report finding that she ‘engaged in harassment and intimidation’ during a debate over the construction of Sprung structures. (Robyn Miller/CBC)Ottawa’s integrity commissioner has found Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante harassed and intimidated residents and community leaders on social media during a debate over the construction of Sprung structures last year. Plante has rejected the report, arguing that the complaints against her were politically motivated and that integrity commissioner Karen Shepherd’s conclusions are at odds with Canadian case law.”I want to be clear: I do not accept these findings,” Plante wrote in an email to her colleagues that she shared with CBC.Council will decide on Wednesday whether to accept Shepherd’s recommendation to dock Plante’s pay for three days. The complaints arose from animated discussions online last year during debate over whether the city should build newcomer reception centres in tent-like facilities known as Sprung structures, named after a leading company that manufactures them.Plante was in favour of the plan, arguing they would alleviate the strain on Ottawa’s existing and overloaded shelters. But there was concerted opposition from some residents who feared the structures would become permanent shelters. The debate turned acrimonious at times, with one public meeting ending in chaos and the arrest of a protester.Last year’s debate over Sprung structures turned acrimonious, and during one public meeting at the Nepean Sportsplex on Dec. 4, 2024, police arrested and charged a person with trespassing. (Elyse Skura/CBC)A series of complaints were laid against Plante between November and December last year, arguing that she’d engaged in online harassment and intimidation of residents and community stakeholders.Some complaints also alleged Plante had disclosed personal information and made false accusations about members of the public. Plante told the integrity commissioner she never intended to abuse, bully, or intimidate anyone, and that her social media posts were good faith discourse on important community issues. Plante declined an interview request, but in a statement said the complaints against her were politically motivated. “Given the timing and co-ordination of these complaints, it appears the goal was not to address any real harassment, but to silence me as a political opponent,” she wrote. ‘Disrespectful communication’The complaints focused largely on social media posts Plante made from July to November 2024, largely involving four specific “witnesses” and a local MPP — none of whom are identified in Shepherd’s report.In one instance, after one of those witnesses posted online about the structures, Plante responded with a meme with the caption: “Behold, a man has arrived to share his manly view.” The poster was offended by the meme and found it to be pejorative, inappropriate and harassing, Shepherd wrote in her report.Plante told Shepherd, however, that the meme was intended to convey that the witness was commenting beyond their knowledge and that they were incorrect about the proposed uses of the Sprung structure.On another post in November 2024, Plante noted how several of the witnesses were using “the same talking points” and wrote that “It’s almost like they are all working together.”She followed that statement with a thinking face emoji.Shepherd found that one of the allegations — that Plante had inappropriately disclosed personal information about residents — was unsubstantiated, since anything she shared was publicly available and “in most cases proactively disclosed by the witnesses.” But the harassment and intimidation allegation was substantiated, Shepherd wrote, concluding that “on a balance of probabilities” Plante contravened Section 7 of the code of conduct.Plante’s communication was “disrespectful,” Shepherd said, and exhibited “bullying and intimidation.” “Section 7 places an obligation on members of council to treat members of the public with respect,” the integrity commissioner wrote.”In [Plante’s] social media posts … I observed a pattern of disrespectful manner of engagement with the witnesses … [which] featured ad hominem remarks, emojis, memes and innuendo, all of which appears to be intended to discredit the witnesses.”‘Karen Shepherd, the city’s integrity commissioner, is recommending that Plante’s pay be suspended for three days. Council is expected to consider that recommendation on Aug. 27. (Mathieu Deroy/CBC)’We do not have an emoji crisis’In her email to her council colleagues, Plante asked them to consider the precedent these findings would set, saying it would open “the floodgates” for all councillors’ communication methods to be scrutinized.”If council endorses these findings, we are saying that elected officials can be sanctioned and financially penalized based on the subjective feelings of complainants and a ‘balance of probabilities’ or that your social media posts could be deemed ‘intimidation’,” she wrote. “We are saying that how we communicate with the public, even during legitimate political debate, can be policed by the integrity commissioner.” Peterborough mayor exonerated after telling anti-maskers to ‘stay TF home’ Plante added that she is discussing her next steps with both her lawyer and the clerk’s office.In a statement on her website, Plante addressed her constituents directly. “To the residents of Rideau-Vanier: We have a housing crisis, [an] opioid crisis and a downtown truck problem. We do not have an emoji crisis,” she wrote.”This investigation is a waste of valuable taxpayer dollars, city resources and time.”As for the Sprung structures, the city eventually abandoned the plan in March, citing declining demand from asylum seekers. READ | The integrity commissioner’s full reportWith files from Campbell MacDiarmid and Gabrielle Huston
Stéphanie Plante harassed, intimidated residents with emojis and memes, report finds
