Integrity commissioner to investigate councillor's 'rape' comments

Comments made by Coun. Rino Bortolin about a rape that never happened are now the subject of an investigation by the city's integrity commissioner.

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Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac made the motion during Monday night's council meeting, waiving the rules to have it discussed without notice. She's looking to see if Bortolin's words fall outside of council's code of conduct. The motion passed unanimously.

"Believe me, the word rape to a woman I don't think you can interject a word that causes more concern or fear," said Gignac, adding she'sworried abouthow that statement affected residents.

The sudden move by Gignac stems from comments Bortolin made in a Windsor Star article on October 18. He was quoted saying "when I have to continually go back to residents and say there is no money for a $3,000 alley light where that person got beat up and raped last week, it's hard."

A rape was never reported to Windsor police during the week of October 9, according to Gignac who said she spokewith the police chief.

Bortolin has apologized for the statement and said it's "an unfortunate use of words."

The word rape surfaced in a story about council's decisions to spend $1.5 million on Christmas lights forJackson Park and $750,000 on refurbishing a 99-year-old trolley. Bortolincompared those coststo having difficulty funding $3,000 for a light in an alley where there may be crime.

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"I think the sentiment behind it was taken out of context, but at the same time I shouldn't have used those words," said Bortolin.

The integrity commissioner will complete an investigation and return to city council with the findings. If it's determined Bortolin violated council's code of conduct, he could face a reprimand or a suspension of up to 90 days.