BC Supreme Court’s dismissal of a petition to remove the mayor and four councillors from office in Powell River came as a surprise to the resident who helped spearhead the initiative.
On June 16, BC Supreme Court Mr. Justice Skolrood ruled that Mayor David Formosa and councillors Debbie Dee, Margaret Hathaway, Jim Palm and Chris McNaughton were not disqualified from holding office after a series of loans were found to in contravention to the Community Charter.
George Orchiston, spokesperson for the group that launched the court action, said his involvement in the case began in April 2013. At that time he asked the local politicians named in the Supreme Court petition if they had partner agreements for the loans in question.
“I never got an answer,” Orchiston said. “They went in-camera all summer and rescinded those motions, got the loan paid back, applied for a Municipal Enabling Validation Act (MEVA) and never said a thing to the public.”
Orchiston said he followed up with correspondence to the City of Powell River in October 2013 and “they realized they could not stay quiet any longer,” he said. A news release was issued November 1, 2013. The release stated that city council had taken action to correct past procedural errors regarding four loans approved by various councils for Powell River Waterfront Development Corporation (PRWDC). It further stated the loans were made without a legislatively required partnership agreement between the City and PRWDC.
The city news release further states the MEVA is a special amendment that provides local government with additional authority.
Orchiston said he was not pleased with council’s lack of initiative on this file. As a citizen, he was asking questions and receiving no answers, he said.
He wrote the mayor a letter and asked him to resign as chief executive officer of the city. He said the petitioners launching the Supreme Court initiative were not all about targeting all the councillors.
Orchiston said he received a letter in response indicating the mayor was not prepared to resign.
“The option then for the petitioners was to apply to the court for an order declaring that the respondents should be disqualified,” he said.
Orchiston said he has read the judgment by the Honourable Mr. Justice Skolrood. A frustration for Orchiston in the decision was a statement by the Justice that even if he had found the councillors in contravention of the Community Charter, he would have exercised his discretion to decline the petitioners’ request to suspend the mayor and councillors in question.
“I have found that the respondents acted in good faith and in reliance on advice from city staff and from the municipal solicitor,” Mr. Justice Skolrood said. “Further, the unauthorized loans have been rescinded and the monies repaid. In short, there is no valid purpose to be served by granting the relief.”
Such an initiative would be prejudicial to the interest of the citizens of Powell River, he added. “If the respondents are disqualified, the city would be left without its mayor and all but two of its elected councillors, with the result that a costly by-election would be required or a request made to the minister to fill the vacancies.”
Mayor David Formosa said on behalf of the himself and the councillors that were implicated, and the past mayor and the councillors that were also part of this matter but not mentioned, the court action was shown to be what it was: nothing more than some folks that are not happy with a local government.
“It was pretty clear from the outset that this was not an issue that was deserving of all this time and possible injury to the reputations to the people serving local government,” Formosa said.
“It was very clear in the judge’s rulings on a number of points that we acted in the best interests of the community and that there was nothing at all at fault,” said Formosa, adding “It was unfortunate, it was stressful, it created hard feelings for nothing, it cost people money for nothing and it cost citizens money we can ill afford to be spending on these types of things.”
