Councillor Sutherland

MJ Hudson | Feb 08, 2022

I am writing in response to a recent letter to the editor about the trucker protest in Ottawa by Ross Sutherland who identified himself as a councillor for South Frontenac. Given that he used his title, one could assume that he may be representing the views of the whole council and his constituents. He asserted that those opposed to vaccines are white supremacists without providing any evidence to back up his theory. However, I am not sure how this even relates to the truckers protest as opposition to vaccines is not their focus. I did indeed attended the protest this past Tuesday to see for myself what was happening and, after spending several hours walking around the area, talking to countless people (all obviously proud and patriotic Canadians) did not see a single sign representing the KKK or indeed any signs of white supremacy. People of many races and cultures were represented in the crowd and also in the cohort of truckers.

To get back to the real issue at hand though, the use of his title to attempt to influence peoples opinions; he should know that using said title as a representative of South Frontenac to express a personal opinion publicly is inappropriate and perhaps, a potential abuse of power. I do not agree with anything he wrote in that letter but I do stipulate that, as a private citizen, he has the right to do so and should not have appended his title to the letter.

The trucker protest is clearly an issue that is outside his purview as a local councilor and he therefore, has no official standing to comment.

I would suggest that, in the future, should Councillor Sutherland wish to publicly express his personal opinions, he should no longer identify himself as a representative of South Frontenac.

MJ Hudson