Almost two months after the controversy erupted, Kamloops city hall has released a copy of the two-minute and 27-second video recording that sparked an investigation of Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.
Hamer-Jackson revealed at the Sept. 5 city council meeting that a March 22 phone call between him and chief administrative officer David Trawin had been recorded as they briefly discussed the Noble Creek Irrigation System.
A subsequent request by a reporter under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act yielded the disclosure 30 business days later, on Monday.
Under B.C.’s FOI law, a record includes not only printed and photographed material generated or received by public bodies, but “any other thing on which information is recorded or stored by graphic, electronic, mechanical or other means.”
The disclosure of the recording came almost a month after city council moved behind closed doors on Sept. 26 to require Hamer-Jackson to hand over the recording and transcript.
Hamer-Jackson is not alleged to have violated any laws, which allow recording of a private conversation if only one party consents. But city council moved to retain an external investigator based on a letter from the human resources and safety department that said recording workplace conversations contravened the city’s standards of conduct.
In an interview, Hamer-Jackson said he frequently asks his wife Lori to take notes when he is driving. On this occasion, he was driving and she was in the passenger seat as they were passing through Abbotsford on the way back to Kamloops. Hamer-Jackson said he received a phone call from a citizen about Noble Creek. He then called Trawin.
“When I picked up the phone, my wife, instead of taking any notes, she just hit the record thing,” Hamer-Jackson said. “I didn't know until after I hung up the phone that she’d actually recorded it. I'm really glad she did because it was a lot more clear.”
In an interview, Trawin said he was surprised to find out that the conversation had been recorded. If Hamer-Jackson had asked for permission, Trawin said he would probably have consented. Instead, he was confused about the rationale for saving the recording for so many months.
“He said it’s a one time thing, won't happen going forward,” Trawin said. “So we personally have no issues with it.”
At that Sept. 5 meeting, council voted to decommission at-risk portions of the Noble Creek irrigation system at the end of the 2023 irrigation season and seek cost estimates for temporary pumping stations for 2024.
