Chestermere mayor sacked, councilors continue legal action

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Fired Chestermere Mayor Jeff Colvin and his board of trustees must await a court ruling that would allow them to return to elected office more than two months after the Alberta government gave them the boot.

The ex-mayor asked the Royal Court of Justice on Tuesday to block Municipal Affairs Minister Rick McIver's December 4 order to sack him and three councilors – Stephen Hanley, Mel Foat and Blaine Funk.

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Attorney Jeff Moroz, along with the three fired city administrators, called for the immediate reinstatement of the group, arguing that the city's interim provincial leadership has done irreparable harm by making sweeping policy changes and altering the actions of the former elected council.

“You have somebody — if you believe that in our democratic society — going into the chambers and making a motion, seconding it and then passing it,” Moroz said. “It is clear that this is not the purpose of the law. It's not as democratic as you'll ever find; All these political decisions are made by one man, and he has destroyed most of what these great men have established.”

The minister has appointed official administrator Doug Lagore – acting for the entire council – and chief administrative officer Pat Vincent to run the city until a by-election fills council vacancies.

The firing was the result of a provincially-commissioned municipal inspection that found the city was mismanaged, mismanaged and biased, and that the city failed to follow provincial guidelines stemming from that investigation.

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If their request for a restraining order is successful, the four former council members will continue in their roles pending the conclusion of a separate lawsuit challenging the order to fire McIver.

Lawyers make arguments

At the end of November last year, another Crown Court judge, McIver, waived the notice after informing the council of his planned dismissal in October. At the time, Justice Keith Yamauchi ruled that the group would not prove “irreparable harm” would result from the dismissal, but that if it followed the order, “the harm to the people and the city would outweigh any harm to the petitioners.” .” A week later, they were fired.

“This evidence is before you today. . . The court is much different than it was before Yamauchi,” Moroz said in court.

Moroz also said Chestermere residents have never used the province's recall legislation, which has been in place for most of the council's tenure. But Peter Buys, a lawyer representing the minister, helped launch a municipal inquiry into residents' complaints in early 2022, which resulted in his dismissal.

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“The reason this started is because the minister started receiving a lot of complaints about what was happening. . . so I don't think it's fair to say that nobody in the city of Chestermere asked for it,” Buice said.

Buijs said the evidence provided by the new application was “essentially identical” to the last one and included many of the same applicants. He requested that the application be dismissed.

“If my friends were not satisfied with this decision, they would have appealed this decision, but they didn't come. Therefore, there is no need to repeat all this,” he said.

The sacked mayor of Chestermere is confident

Judge Johanna Price reserved her decision for an unspecified date and said she would review submissions from both sides before deciding whether the order could be challenged again. However, he has instructed lawyers for both sides to file a formal motion to expedite the trial — a comprehensive and final decision on whether the province's decision to fire the councilors was fair. It is currently scheduled to be heard in 2025, after a by-election by June of this year.

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“In this case, it might be better for all parties. . . It should be heard earlier than expected until 2025,” Price said.

Speaking to the media after the hearing, Colvin said his team is confident in both the upcoming injunction decision and its chances at trial.

“We believe our case is very fair, we believe we had a very good day and we believe he will rule in our favor,” Colvin said.

“The people of Chestermere elected our seven; they didn't elect Doug Lagore,” he added.

Colvin said he and all ousted council members plan to run for by-elections and the 2025 election if their legal challenges are unsuccessful.

The minister's dismissal order spared councilors Shannon Dean, Sandy Johal-Watt and Ritesh Narayan from trying to hold the city accountable, although Johal-Watt has since resigned. Dean and Narayan will remain on the sidelines and will not hold any official duties until the re-election.

The results of the ongoing forensic review are expected to be released before the election, with the minister previously raising concerns about the mayor's credit card statements, including more than $8,500 spent on food and alcohol on 84 trips in three months, and other cities. transactions and financial transactions.

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