In a first in Cariboo-Chilcotin local government (to the best of my knowledge) – Quesnel Councillor Sushil Thapar became the 1st local elected official in the Cariboo-Chilcotin to be officially censured by a municipal council. To put this into context, it will be necessary to review the background for this item
Background:
In March of this year – Councillor Thapar alleged that spending for accommodations (Hotels) to attend this year’s UBCM by Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom and her fellow City Councillors Coralee Oakes and L-A Roodenburg was high. This was later disputed by Quesnel’s Mayor along with Councillors Oakes and Roodenburg and corrected after the true facts were revealed by Quesnel City Staff
Later on in 2011 - Councillor Thapar (Quesnel Council Finance Chair) put forward a FOI (Freedom of Information) Request after he alleged he was being denied information for Quesnel City Council member spending. Although he was presented, initially, with a $262 FOI Bill, this was eventually revoked by Quesnel City Staff and Councillor Thapar was given an apology for the bill. He later denounced the spending of $3,000 for legal counsel for this $262 FOI Bill but this was defended by Quesnel’s Mayor as “appropriate”
On April 18th – In a report authored by Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom – Quesnel City Council passed a “Motion of Censure” against Quesnel City Councillor Sushil Thapar for a series of events/comments against Quesnel City Staff where they could not easily respond to statements from a member of Quesnel City Council and were in a vulnerable position. See Mayor Sjostrom’s report to Council, dated June 27th, here
During the week of June 20-24 – both Quesnel City Councillor Sushil Thapar and CRD Area ‘C’ resident Arthur Topham made both oral (Quesnel Councillor Thapar on June 24th) and written (Mr. Topham on June 20th) comments about the Quesnel City Manager (J. Stecyk) on his former job, his hiring as Quesnel’s City Manager, the firm that helped in the process to hire a new Quesnel City Manager and his professional capacity to act as Quesnel’s City Manager.
On June 27th – Quesnel City Manager John Stecyk came forward with a memorandum (see that here), authored by himself and cleared by the City of Quesnel Solicitor (Lawyer), requesting that Quesnel Council require Councillor Thapar to retract his oral comments of the previous week and apologize formally to the Quesnel City Manager for his slanderous comments about his previous job and his ability to act and also to criticize the firm that assisted the City of Quesnel in hiring a new Quesnel City Manager, contrary to City of Quesnel Policy. Mr. Topham has also been presented with a formal request, from Quesnel’s Municipal Lawyer, to retract/apologize for his written letter as printed in the June 22nd edition of the Quesnel Cariboo Observer
Quesnel Council then had an opportunity to ask appropriate questions to the Quesnel City Manager on his memo. Councillor Thapar denounced this item coming forward on the June 27th Quesnel Council Agenda however Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom responded by stating that Quesnel Council, as a body, approved the Special Meeting Agenda.
Quesnel Council did not make a formal decision on Mr. Stecyk’s request but agreed to refer further discussion on this matter In-Camera and as of July 4th – that is where it remains. Councillor Thapar did, however, make oral comments on local radio (June 28/29th) advising that he does not plan to apologize for his comments, as they relate to John Stecyk and his hiring as Quesnel’s City Manager
Conclusion:
A motion of censure is a municipal council’s most powerful tool (and one of very few tools available to them) to formally express its’ disappointment in the conduct of one of its’ own members. One does not get up and say “Let’s pass a censure motion today”. This act is only done when all other attempts to rein in the act of a member of a municipal council do not work.
As Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom noted at the June 27th Special Quesnel Council Meeting, you simply cannot have members of a municipal council investigating each other, there are ways to address concerns relating to their spending without it turning into a “witchhunt” and she also stated that any form of harassment against Quesnel City Staff will not tolerated and could see financial costs coming against the City of Quesnel. See these comments, as stated, in the June 27th Special Quesnel Council Meeting Minutes here and go to Pages 3-4 of the Minutes for proof
At this point – it appears that there is a standoff between Quesnel City Councillor Sushil Thapar & the rest of his Quesnel Council colleagues and we’ll have to wait and see what happens but it is fair to suggest that Councillor Thapar is playing a very dangerous game here – especially if his end goal is to run for Quesnel Mayor. There are non-confrontational ways to express his differences between himself and the current Quesnel Mayor without involving Quesnel City Staff and engaging in mudslinging. Also – there are effective and diplomatic ways to express your concerns with your colleagues’ spending without it looking childish in the media. Such methods include phoning or meeting the member in question one on one and expressing your concerns to them and leave the disagreements there and not expressing them in the media
Let us leave the political debating to Quesnel City Council members’ and leave Quesnel City Staff out of it.
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