Carberry responds to “toxic environment” online

The Town of Carberry has disabled the commenting feature on its social media posts and instructed staff to use the technology as a one-way communication tool following a new social media policy adopted this month.

The “social media information only” policy bylaw was passed at Carberry council’s regular meeting on Apr. 14. The policy comes following repeated harassment online that led to real-world consequences in Carberry, Mayor Ray Muirhead told the Sun in a recent interview.

Earlier this year, with the opening of Chicken Chef under a new owner, a dispute between the restaurant owner and an employee become fodder for public harassment which nearly drove the restaurant out of town, Muirhead said. This was the turning point where council decided they had to take action, the mayor said.

“He was literally thinking of closing the doors,” Muirhead said in a phone call. “This recent one with the Chicken Chef.

The business had only been open for a few weeks at the time the harassment took place, Muirhead said.

“We had to do something with this recent one.”

A number of other incidents have taken place, Muirhead said.

The new Carberry policy provides clear direction to staff that social media will be used as a channel to put out information; public interaction features such as comments, replies, or public messaging will be disabled on the Town of Carberry’s content that it creates.

The policy was written to ensure “consistent, professional and lawful sharing of municipal information,” and to “reduce the risk of misinformation, inappropriate engagement, and reputational harm.”

The policy only affects the Town of Carberry’s profiles, however there have also been problems with community groups not controlled by the town, the mayor said. He has personally written a letter to the community twice asking for online harassment in groups to “cease and desist,” he said.

Muirhead said a number of people involved are not local residents, or are posting anonymously.

“They’re just bashing our school system, our businesses, our health care,” he said. “They just sit back and they just wait for something to come on so they can get on and bash.”

The recent letter in February, written by Muirhead, encouraged residents to not fuel a “toxic environment” online with unfounded criticism and racism.

Dustin Mitchell, a Carberry resident, told the Sun there has been frustration with how communication has been handled at times by the mayor and community Facebook groups. He said he has personally raised concerns about issues in town, but also closed posts when responses got out of control.

“When I tried to raise awareness about employees who were unlawfully let go by the new Chicken Chef owners, the discussion quickly turned into racist commentary, and I ended up deleting the post,” he said. “The following day, a letter was shared by the mayor that was perceived as siding with the owners, and comments were locked, which left some people feeling unheard.”

“From a resident’s perspective, it can feel like dialogue is being limited rather than encouraged,” he said. “That said, I do understand that comment sections can escalate quickly and sometimes need to be managed or closed.”

Mitchell also pointed to an incident when money was stolen from the local rink. In 2024, a woman was charged with stealing $30,000 from the Carberry Curling Club over the previous year while she was in the volunteer treasurer position, and she pleaded guilty. She was working as the CAO of the RM of North Cypress-Langford when she used unauthorized funds from the municipality to reimburse the curling club.

“Many residents were looking for information but felt they received little to none,” Mitchell said. “I understand legal limits exist, but the lack of communication was frustrating.”

“More recently, when funds related to the Harvest Festival were misappropriated, posts were again locked when people asked for basic details,” he said. “Situations like these can create a perception that residents aren’t getting the full picture or that concerns aren’t being addressed.”

Mitchell said he understands that the town’s new social media policy may be influenced by broader issues like harassment. He said it would be “great” if the community could find a way to share information and not have it wrecked by others who devolve into abusive commenting.

In an interview with the Sun, Amit Patel, the owner of Chicken Chef, said he did not plan to close the doors on his restaurant in Carberry. But he said that his business took a hit for two weeks while rumours circulated about the restaurant. The business has picked up and is receiving good support now, he said, adding he was reluctant to discuss the issue because it could give rise to more rumours online.

Nearly all the community is supportive but there is a small group of people that have been negative, he said.

Muirhead said that citizens with concerns are welcome to write letters, which go to council as long as they are signed, or communicate through regular channels if they wish to raise concerns or submit feedback.

He said his main concern online is anonymous posts that sling mud towards the town and community members.

“I had somebody come on, and they’re ‘Gentle Raccoon.’ Well, who’s that?” Muirhead said. “And the worst thing about it is there’s quite a few people that were posting negative comments, they aren’t even people that live in town. They’re just people out there (with) nothing better to do than to post negative comments.”

He said he has met with RCMP before searching for ways to bring accountability for commenting that crosses the line from criticism to harassment.

The public is encouraged to write emails, make phone calls, visit in-person, or form delegations or written submissions for council to submit inquiries, voice concerns and offer feedback, according to the social media policy.

The new policy applies to town employees and other individuals who are authorized to manage official social media accounts on behalf of the town. It does not apply to personal social media accounts, however staff must still comply with codes of conduct set out for employees and council, the policy states.

»cmcdowell@brandonsun.com