Arielle Kayabaga, a man from London, Ontario, accused by police of harassing the 13th District Councilor and London West MP-elect last year, has been removed from his posts.
Joshua Girges, 43, was arrested and charged in November 2020 with criminal harassment by repeated communication and telecommunications harassment after Kayabaga was allegedly received multiple harassing phone calls from a stranger.
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With Kayabaga’s victory projected in West London, the focus is on his position on the 13th District council.
During a court appearance on Tuesday, the Crown requested that the charges against Girges be dropped without citing possible prospects for conviction.
Kayabaga had tweeted in September 2020 that she had been receiving daily phone calls for four months from a man to “talk about how much he feels for black women because I am a single mother (sic), black about black crimes to this day” .
“Tonight he told me that he would appear at my house and I told him that I would be waiting for him. I just wanted to tell you that you will never make me quit. “He wrote in a tweet dated September 17, 2020.
Tuesday morning’s court hearing came less than 12 hours after Kayabaga was declared the projected winner in London West in Monday’s federal election with a close 4.2 percentage point lead over conservative Rob Flack.
Kayabaga’s victory marks the first time in many years that a London city councilor has been able to make a successful leap from local to federal politics.
The city council is expected to declare District 13 vacant at its October 5 meeting, kicking off the process to find Kayabaga’s successor, who will be appointed by city politicians or elected by district residents in a choice by choice.
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