EDITORIAL: Will Ron Paull be the 1st Mayor of Quesnel to be censured?

On Tuesday evening -- Quesnel City Council will meet and one of the items to be considered, and will likely consume a significant portion of its' meeting time, is regarding the potential censure of Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull... 

It should be noted that while the topic of censure in Quesnel is not new (see below) -- Quesnel is the only Cariboo-Chilcotin Local Government to have formally censured a member of Quesnel City Council since Codes' of Conduct came into place in BC Local Governments' since the mid to late 2000's ... 

Background:

At the April 2nd, 2024 meeting of Quesnel City Council, the following Resolution was approved:

THAT Council directs Staff to prepare a report on censure of the Mayor, noting what censure means for Council and what sanctions Council can levy against the Mayor, and bring it forward to an open public meeting as soon as possible, even if it means a special (Council) meeting is needed

CONTRARY TO THE MOTION: Mayor Paull

At the meeting on Tuesday evening, the following materials will laid before Quesnel City Council to consider any actions of censure and/or related actions against Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull:

1) Report of Quesnel City Manager (CAO) Byron Johnson - click here

2) Response of Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull - click here

3) Quesnel Bylaws or Policies related to Oath of Office/Code of Conduct

* Elected Officials' Oath of Office Bylaw - click here

* City of Quesnel Oath of Office for Mayor/Councillors - click here

* Quesnel Council Code of Conduct Policy - click here

4) Memorandum of Understanding - City of Quesnel/Lhtako Dene Nation.  Click here

5) Resolution of Lhtako Dene Nation Band Council barring Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull from their lands without express permission of the Nation - click here

6) April 2nd, 2024 transcript of comments at the April 2nd Quesnel Council Meeting -- Lhtako Dene Nation Chief Cliff LeBrun and Nazko First Nation Chief Leah Stump - click here

7) Quesnel Cariboo Observer article "Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull denies distributing book entitled "Grave Error..." - click here

Recently -- the Quesnel Cariboo Observer observed how difficult this conversation has become in Quesnel since the topic of distributing the book of Grave Error came up in mid March of this year.  Read more here.  

Conclusion:

In terms of process -- recent court decisions and the common law in relation to discipline of a member of a local government body in relation to their conduct (Mayor, Councillor or Area Director) states that procedural fairness MUST be followed including advanced notice of a Motion of Censure and all related materials so that a defense can be prepared.  In that context -- Mayor Paull was served notice of the possible "Motion of Censure" and other related actions' on April 18th for consideration at the April 30th meeting which meets all the requirements in relation to procedural fairness and as noted above, he has prepared a response for Quesnel Council to consider

In terms of history in Quesnel on the subject of censure -- Mayor Paull is not the 1st elected official in Quesnel to face a censure motion in relation to their conduct. 

The 1st elected official to be formally censured by a Quesnel City Council was former Quesnel City Councillor Sushil Thapar who was formally censured for his conduct on 3 different occasions' in the 2011-2014 elected term however Mayor Paull will be the 1st Mayor of Quesnel to be formally censured, should that be the decision of the 2022-2026 Quesnel City Council on Tuesday evening and it'll be interesting to follow the debate on Tuesday evening, in what I am fairly confident will be a full public gallery inside Quesnel Council Chambers... 

~SF

Editor's Note -- the above editorial is my own opinion and not that of the Cariboo Regional District...