Van Meerbergen says he has 'no intention' of taking responsibility for smear site

Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen says he has "no intention" of taking responsibility for the actions of a campaign volunteer who confessed last week to paying for a website that attacked the candidate's opponent, Virginia Ridley.

Yesterday, the group Women and Politics called on the Ward 10 councillor to investigate how and why a volunteer set up the website, and why Blackridge Strategy put up information that went far beyond what the volunteer paid for.

"When you're a candidate, you have to be responsible for everybody on your campaign team. If a mistake is made, as a candidate you have to own that mistake. It's part of accountability," said Marci Allen-Easton, the head of Women and Politics.

"Paul has the ability to fix this and set it right. He owes Virginia an apology and he owes London an apology, and what he does can have an impact on whether women run in the future."

But yesterday afternoon, Van Meergergen told CBC News he won't be heeding the call.

"I have no intention of taking responsibility for something of which I had no knowledge," he wrote in an email.

Women and Politics is a group which promotes female representation in government.

During the fall municipal election campaign, two attack websites were put up, questioning the integrity and voting records of Ridley and Maureen Cassidy, who was also running for re-election.

Court documents released recently tied both the sites to Blackridge Strategy owner Amir Farahi.

'Set the bar'

The fake site in Ridley's name accused her of child abuse for bringing her child to a budget meeting.

Last week, Van Meerbergen's campaign volunteer, Barry Phillips, said he paid Farahi about $1,000 to build an attack site, though he said Farahi included the child abuse allegation on his own.

Phillips said Van Meerbergen didn't know anything about the site.

Van Meerbergen has not returned calls for comment, but in his brief email yesterday afternoon said "As a reminder, Barry Phillips told me of his involvement this past June 10."

But Allen-Easton said Van Meerbergen could set the bar for what is and isn't acceptable in future election campaigns.

"What he does can have an impact on whether or not women run in the future. He has the ability to set things right, and to put out the message that it's not acceptable and that it can't happen again."

Ridley was not re-elected.

Earlier this month, Cassidy's opponent, Randy Warden, apologized to her in a statement and said that although he didn't know the website was being created, it was ultimately his responsibility, as the candidate.