Online trolls, it seems, are everywhere. In Guelph, this might just be true.
As detailed in a report by municipal Integrity Commissioner Laura Dean, even when dealing with Guelph’s most infamous online troll, politicians must uphold the dignity of their elected offices.
This person’s behaviour and online tactics are familiar to most communities. He runs one of those ubiquitous local pages that operates as an barely regulated forum.
He also repurposes content and passes it off as his own, all while making a decent living doing so by selling advertising and sponsorships.
Guelph Council’s Standards of Behaviour
On May 28, 2024, Guelph City Councillor Erin Caton posted to Facebook explaining updates that Guelph Council passed regarding social media content. The post was made in the “Overheard in Guelph” Facebook group.
Caton’s Facebook post as reproduced in the IC report.
The new rules prevent council members from blocking individuals on social media, with a narrow range of exceptions for only the most egregious behaviour.
(My own practice is similar. For me to block someone, they have to be extremely egregious. I provide public information, often public safety information, and I believe this means I’m duty-bound to keep my platforms as open as possible. This means, for example, that on Bluesky, there are troll comments below many of my posts.)
In the comments below her post, Caton remarked that “He Who Shall Not Be Named” would not be able to abide by the rules. Guelph’s best-known troll blocks anyone who is critical of him, or who notes when he is plagiarising content.
Comments below Clr Caton’s Facebook post, as reproduced in the IC report.
(Again, a familiar story with some of these ubiquitous repurposers.)
The Faux Pas: Everyone Knows Who He Who Shall Not Be Named Is
In the comments below her own post, Caton remarked that “He Who Shall Not Be Named” would have difficulty with not blocking people if they were ever elected to Council.
Everyone in Guelph knew who she was referring to.
The Troll Files a Complaint; the IC Determines No Violation (This Time)
The troll filed a complaint with the Integrity Commissioner. (Unnoted is the irony of a troll who mocks ‘snowflakes’ being a ‘snowflake.’)
IC Dean writes that Caton “may not have exercised good judgment when she unnecessarily referenced the Complainant in a Facebook group that the Complainant does not have access to.”
However, “while perhaps mocking in tone,” Dean determined the comment did not violate the new Code of Conduct.
Dean concludes that Caton “exercised questionable judgment” and concluded by “urging all members to exercise due restraint before making social media posts which single out individual members of the public.”
I’ll put it more succinctly:
Do not feed the trolls.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: July 26, 2025
Last updated: July 26, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version