In September, a photo from 2007 surfaced of Colwood Councillor Ian Ward in blackface.
After the photo surfaced, Ward took to social media, blaming and harassing local arts advocate and businessman Colin McTaggart.
Since then, Ward deleted the tweets and deactivated his X account.
Ward and McTaggart had lawyers get involved and after a cease-and-desist order was issued by McTaggart’s legal team, Ward has issued an apology for his behaviour.
In the letter to McTaggart, Ward acknowledged the lack of evidence supporting his statements.
“Please accept my apology for since-deleted tweets alleging that you engaged in stalking me online,” Ward wrote.
“There is no evidence to support this, therefore I retract that allegation and offer you my sincere apology.”
Ward added the clarification that McTaggart was not the subject of my complaint to police, nor that he was anti-Semitic.
“Those claims were, and are, specific to anonymous ‘X’ accounts,” he concluded.
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Following the apology, McTaggart has said he is hopeful that this resolution will underscore the importance of honesty and integrity, particularly for public officials in community interactions.
“For me, words matter. We must be able to back up what we say, especially in public roles,” said McTaggart.
“I hope this serves as a reminder of the importance of honesty and integrity in our interactions,” he stated.”
As part of the agreement between the two parties’ legal teams, the apology will remain pinned on McTaggart’s X account for an agreed-upon period of 30 days.
Ward’s apology can be viewed here.
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