August 31, 2011
Townships to pass on
legal costs
by Vance Gutzman
Head, Clara and Maria council will be footing the bill for legal costs
associated with the townships' Municipal Elections Act imbroglio that
took place this past spring.
But not all of it.
The municipality passed a resolution at its August meeting directing
staff to pay the invoice of its solicitor, Bill Instance, in the amount
of $1,058.50.
Instance's total invoice came in at $1,374.90, according to a report
from municipal clerk Melinda Reith, with $314.60 of that being
attributed directly to Reeve Tammy Lea Stewart.
Reeve Stewart was absent from the August 12 meeting, when council
passed its resolution.
The legal fees stem from a dispute last spring over whether or not
Councillors Jim Gibson and Ed Aiston were eligible to continue sitting
on council, after both men failed to file financial returns under
auspices of the Municipal Elections Act.
Gibson and Aiston, at their own expense, sought relief from the courts
to avoid the penalty of finding themselves removed from office.
After the dust had settled, and both men were back at the council
table, council passed a resolution, in May, requesting that its
municipal solicitor "clearly identify and separate the chargeable
items... to identify those spent on answering the reeve's questions."
"We need to know what it cost and who is to pay for it. It should not
be the municipality," Councillor Ed Aiston said at the time.
That resolution also stated that "the reeve contacted the municipal
solicitor a number of times without the knowledge of the municipal
clerk and without council's approval in the matter of Councillors
Aiston and Gibson's failure to file form fours by the legislated
deadline."
At the same meeting in May, Reeve Stewart narrowly avoided a censure
motion calling for her resignation.
Aiston and Gibson voted for the censure motion, while the reeve and
Councillor Robert Reid voted against it, with Councillor Dave Foote
abstaining from the vote.
The August motion regarding payment of the legal fees was moved by
Foote and seconded by Aiston.
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