Ontario mayor uses alias email address for city business, experts question transparency
Experts question optics, urge further investigation
Windsor's mayor uses an alias email address to conduct city business, sparking concerns over transparency and a push for further investigation, CBC News has learned after obtaining internal documents.
In my view, this is the kind of thing that calls for investigation, a thorough investigation, by the integrity commissioner.- Ron Kanter, municipal lawyer
The public knows the city's mayor as Drew Dilkens. However, for administration and city councillors he's also known as Andrew Ray, at least through email.
"I don't think the optics are very good," said Ron Kanter, municipal lawyer in Toronto. "Transparency suggests that you be clear in doing public business."
Watch Ron Kanter explain why he's concerned about this:
There aren't any provincial rules that govern alias email accounts for municipal politicians. That's left up to each jurisdiction's Code of Conduct.
A few sections in the City of Windsor's policy may apply to the mayor's email conduct, Kanter suggests.
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"In my view, this is the kind of thing that calls for investigation, a thorough investigation, by the integrity commissioner," said Kanter.
If an investigation was to take place, it couldn't happen until after the election. The rules state a complaint cannot be investigated by the integrity commissioner after June 30th of a municipal election year.
"I see it (and this is a personal opinion) as a mechanism to reduce the possibility that individuals will attempt to use the 'Integrity Regime' for political purposes," said Bruce Elman, Windsor's Integrity Commissioner.
As a former Toronto city councillor, Kanter said he has never heard of an elected official using an alias email for municipal affairs.
City attempts to redact mayor's email alias
CBC News was made aware of the mayor's internal email alias after filing a Freedom of Information Request on an unrelated story. Initially, the name was redacted by the city citing it as a "confidential source." After an appeal was filed, the city no longer claimed Andrew Ray was a "confidential source." Instead, blacking-out the name under the advice and recommendation exemption of the legislation. In the end, the name was revealed.
Dilkens responds
Dilkens tells CBC News that by having his city email address known to the public then "you've defeated the system." He said he uses this separate email so his inbox isn't inundated with communications: things like invitations to events, and complaints from the public.
"It's not practical to have every resident who has a complaint send an email directly to the mayor. It would be dysfunctional," Dilkens said. "It would be dysfunctional for the residents frankly because it would be impossible for me to respond to every request that comes in."
Watch mayor Drew Dilkens explain his Andrew Ray email account in this unedited video while speaking to reporters:
He acknowledges his name is Andrew Raymond Dilkens and that's where the internal email of Andrew Ray stems from, separate from the mayor's office email listed on the city's website.
Dilkens added former mayor Eddie Francis also had an internal email account under a different name, which CBC News has confirmed through other sources.
I think anyone using an alias should be banned from using city resources that way.- Nelson Wiseman, University of Toronto political science professor
'Who the hell is Andrew Ray?'
"Who the hell is Andrew Ray?" said Nelson Wiseman, political science professor at the University of Toronto. "Who elected Andrew Ray? Why is Andrew Ray giving directions to civil servants?"
Watch political science professor Nelson Wiseman react:
Wiseman believes it's false representation and says using an alias to conduct city business is "outrageous."
"I think it should be exposed. I think it's wrong," he said.
"I think anyone using an alias should be banned from using city resources that way," Wiseman said.
This isn't the first time a politician has been found using an alias email address for work.
Back in 2011, CBC News discovered former Alberta cabinet minister Ted Morton used the name Frederick Lee — his actual first and middle names — as an official government email address.
At the time, a former staff member left the ministry over ethical differences. The staffer thought the email alias "was wrong" and wasn't comfortable with the minister using an email "that wasn't known to the public."
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