Sylvan Lake town councillor found in breach of Code of Conduct policy for social media post

Failure to complete the sanctions will result in suspension from council boards, committees, and conferences.

According to previous local media reports, Tyler Braun, a resident of Sylvan Lake, made a Facebook post on May 21 alleging he was physically assaulted by Dakin at her bar Bukwildz. He said he attended her establishment with his staff after opening his own restaurant Public House Social & Eatery (3715 47 Ave.) in the town. He claimed in the post he was repeatedly harassed, grabbed by the shirt, and slapped across the face by Dakin after being interrogated about owning another establishment. He also claimed Dakin threatened to “kill him” if he “touched her face again”.

(Tyler Braun Facebook post)

The post currently has over 400 reactions, 444 shares and 723 comments.

While Dakin shut down her Facebook account, Facebook users posted and discussed screenshots of her alleged counter-remarks in the comments section.

One alleged comment made by Dakin to the post states, “you came at me and it was hardly a slap buddy. Leave me alone for real.”

She also allegedly commented on the post stating that Braun was rude and “Is this your way of getting business this is exactly why I’m mad at you for what you said last night! Why do you come in and talk about me??”

Another screenshot shows an apparent post made by Dakin on her own account acknowledging Braun’s accusations. She writes, “I am under an extreme amount of pressure to be perfect since becoming a town councillor and the hate I receive for being in that position is astronomical the last few months.”

She described being overwhelmed with the various hats she wears as a mother, business owner of at times 60 staff, running her non-profit organization The Yellow Butterfly Society for struggling youth, boards she volunteers on, town councillor, wife, good community member, and friend.

“The last couple weeks I was working open until close (3 am) making sure everything is perfect at work. Saturday night I reacted in a way I wouldn’t normally but it was ballooned 1000 times under the microscope of “who I am”.”

She adds, “I am not what that post says. I absolutely could have handled that better but what was written is not true or a fair representation of what happened. I’m human, I was exhausted and I’ll do better to not ever react in even the mildest aggressive way again.”

She claims in the post that she reached out to the person involved to apologize but was not met with response.

Some members of the Lake Nation community Facebook page later planned to attend the council meeting on May 23 to show support for Dakin during the open mic period. In another screenshot, Dakin thanked her supporters in a Facebook post.

RCMP officials confirmed they received a report on May 22 from the victim of an alleged physical assault. The victim claimed they were slapped at a restaurant/bar establishment in Sylvan Lake by the accused, 37-year-old Kjeryn Dakin and resident of the town. Dakin was later arrested and charged with one count of assault and released for her next court appearance in Red Deer on November 1.

Mayor Megan Hanson says the Town does not yet have the cost of the investigation and no other investigations have been done since the present council was sworn in, in October 2021.

rdnewsNOW reached out to Tyler Braun for comment, as well as Kjeryn Dakin and her legal counsel on multiple attempts but did not receive responses.

READ: Local town councillor claims “character assassination” in disqualification from UCP nomination

by Alessia Proietti

Sylvan Lake town councillor found in breach of Code of Conduct policy for social media post

What's Trending