RM Mckillop - Council Meeting - June 6, 2023 - Ethics Complaint
June 6th, 2022
At the regular Council meeting of McKillop, Councilor Mark Strong alleged the RM didn’t follow its own procedures in handling the ethics complaint filed against him when they didn’t allow him to speak during their closed session deliberations.
Strong said he was told he would be able to speak to the Council but was only brought back after they voted to substantiate the complaint, reprimand him, requiring him to take ethics training.
The complainant was identified as ratepayer Gary Dixon, the former councillor of Strong’s division, who in 2022 was handily rejected by voters in a vote of 90 - 22.
Dixon alleged Strong was in a conflict of interest when he discussed and voted on a new campground development. Strong and his spouse own Rowan’s Ridge Campground in the RM. Strong ran on a responsible development platform. Council found that because Strong is the owner of a campground, voting for or against another campground could mean he could benefit financially from his participation. Strong has maintained he would appeal the decision.
Previously those involved in the complaint process have been able to address council when they considered the complaint. While Strong was told he could speak, he ultimately wasn’t given the opportunity. “I shouldn’t have to appeal. I wasn’t allowed to speak to it in the first place. I was removed from the room and you got to chat away and not brought back in. In fact, the meeting was adjourned before I was even brought back in.”
Strong said, “I don’t think you realize the implications of what your decision means, and I think you need to consider that.”
“It’s another situation where I was told something and then I followed it and then it was wrong...You made a decision without even hearing me out, which is a problem in Council, of hearing people out. All the time.” When asked about the other situation he referred to, he appeared frustrated. He couldn’t speak publicly about a similar event from a different closed session.
The CAO said she was told by Government Relations that there was no appeal process except to appeal to Council. She advised Council they could pass a motion to reconsider and go into a closed session to allow Strong to speak. However, Reeve Bob Schmidt responded, “There is no way to change the outcome of it,” and that there would be implications to previously decided complaints if they did. “It’s a can of worms if we open that up. This means that all previous decisions we’ve made are open to being reviewed and appealed. Because we can’t be unfair, it’s procedural fairness.”
Council passed a motion to go into a closed session to discuss whether they would let Strong speak to them.
When they allowed the public back into the meeting, Councillor Strong was brought back in. Reeve Schmidt said, “A decision was made to not change anything.” Councillor Strong threw his arms up in the air.
There was no motion when council made their decision in closed session. Decisions are required to be made in public and are not permitted to occur in closed session. The RM said they had come to a consensus that they weren’t going to consider it because it had already been decided on. The RM also said they were permitted to discuss the procedural issue in a closed session because it was under the umbrella of their ethics bylaw.
During the Reeve and Councilors Forum, Councilor Strong pointed out that if Council were going to hold him to the standard, they would also be subject to findings of conflict of interest when discussing issues around Ag and Organized Hamlets for those who were agriculture producers or who lived in organized hamlets. It should be noted that earlier in the meeting, Councilor Howard Arndt suggested that three members of Council could also be in a conflict of interest due to their residency in organized hamlets. Strong said, “If you uphold things like that then we are going to be 100% ineffective. Everyone will have to remove themselves because they are scared to represent anything that they stand for.”
Strong added that it was “absurd” that he would not be able to be asked questions on a sector that he has expertise in.
In a surprise announcement, Reeve Bob Schmidt announced that not just Strong would be taking conflict of interest training. All of the council would take it as well.
Schmidt asked Strong to take his questions to the trainer, “Let’s wait and bring it up at training..I’m somewhat in agreement with you.”
LMT contacted the Minister of Government Relations but has yet to receive a response by publication.
