The increasing presence of perceived alt-right rhetoric and cyberbullying in Tiny Township has several in the community reacting to a recent MidlandToday article, following a decision by Pickering city council to go virtual for their council meetings due to safety concerns.
The article, ‘Rising alt-right appearances at North Simcoe councils cause security considerations’, addressed the presence in Tiny and Tay Township council meetings of individuals appearing within a Pickering video where the mayor laid out why the municipality was moving to entirely online meetings.
MidlandToday asked members of Tiny Township council for a response on the heightened discourse within their council chambers.
“I am extremely concerned,” replied Coun. Kelly Helowka through email.
“The People’s Party of Canada (PPC) – not Progressive Conservative Party (CPC) – think that they can infiltrate and influence our township. I am hoping that our ratepayers are too smart to be tricked into buying into these less than 2% extreme right wingers,” said Helowka, alluding to PPC polling results from the most recent federal election.
Helowka added comments addressing recent appearances by a Simcoe North PPC candidate Stephen Makk at Tiny council meetings, which initially coincided with his appearance at a September gathering in Tiny Township for an Ontario Landowners Association pig roast. Makk had also been present during a KICLEI deputation in both Tiny and Tay Township council chambers.
“Although I respect and abide by our democratic principles and values, I denounce any organization or political party that is extreme,” stated Helowka. “It seems to me that this alt-right group should not be given much credibility. They have not earned any.”
A request for comment was also sent to Karen Zulynik regarding her group's role in trying to stop the Tiny Township administration centre build.
While no response was provided directly to MidlandToday, Zulynik took the questions to her public Tiny Township: All Things Council social media page where she shared her thoughts on the matter. Zulynik neither condoned nor denounced the presence of alt-right rhetoric aligned with her initiative, deferring the decision to remove harmful content to those who operate Facebook and its oversight.
“I was getting signatures for the referendum, because I go where crowds are,” replied Zulynik on her attendance at the OLA pig roast, of which she is a member. “(Pickering councillor) Lisa Robinson is being bullied by her peers and I am in the same boat as Lisa Robinson, but these guys are not my peers, they are my leaders!”
Zulynik also stated: “No one on this page has ever threatened anyone's life."
An April 2024 council meeting quoted Coun. Steffen Walma as township council and staff dealt with cyberbullying involving “people wanting to run council over with trucks” and “threatening to hang council members in a meme form.”
MidlandToday also reached out to former Ontario Party candidate Gerald Auger, who had appeared in North Simcoe council chambers in recent months along with being shown within the Pickering video; Auger did not respond with comments at the time of publication.
An email was received from “Canadian activist” Maggie Braun, as described in her appearance at the September pig roast. Braun had provided a letter to the editor previously, in her role as KICLEI (Kicking the International Council Out of Local Environmental Initiatives) founder, that the organization was not anti-globalist.
Braun, who had also appeared within the Pickering video, claimed that the MidlandToday article attempted to link her unfairly with alt-right and anti-Semitic groups.
Braun says the article "misrepresents both my work and the KICLEI initiative, relying on inflammatory language, guilt by association, and unsupported claims to paint a false narrative. Such reporting undermines constructive civic engagement.
"The KICLEI initiative (Kicking International Council Out of Local Environmental Initiatives) is a citizen-led effort focused on transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility in municipal climate programs," she stated via email. "Our goal is to inform councils about the costs, obligations, and impacts of voluntary programs like ICLEI’s Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) and advocate for local decision-making. At no point has KICLEI or its official supporters engaged in harassment, cyberbullying, or intimidation."
At the upcoming committee of the whole meeting, Tiny Township will be discussing a procedure bylaw amendment report to address citizen conduct for municipal committees and meetings.
Zulynik added on her post that the meeting would also contain information about the budget, loan approval for the administration centre, and a letter regarding a referendum on the building which had been put on the shoulders of the municipality and not the province.
“This cyber-bullying threatening people's lives issue is just a way to cloud the real issues that the meeting is about,” wrote Zulynik.
When asked if cyberbullying had increased over recent months, Helowka expressed it had.
“As a Township of Tiny councillor, I have been exposed to many unstable individuals, much more so than in my 36 years as a police officer," he said.
"I only ran for council because I thought I could help people in my township, but the wackos are only getting worse,” said Helowka. “I will not let them get to me because I feel that the work we are doing is important and the ‘right thing to do.’”
