Councillor Julia Butler will keep her seat on Grand Forks City Council.
The Honourable Mr. justice Greyell of the B.C. Supreme Court dismissed the city’s application to have the councillor disqualified for conflict of interest and breach of oath of office. His decision Momday came after a month-long reserve in judgment following a hearing in Vancouver.
In his written judgment, Greyell identifies a conflict prior to Butler shutting down her yard care business. “In my view, Ms. butler quite clearly had a direct conflict of interest when she participated in discussion about the [water meter] program before she divested herself of doing business as Eden [Yardcare] in early March 2015.”
However, “I am of the opinion that Ms. Butler’s change in status from operating her own business to taking a position of employment with Arch Angel does not place her in conflict with the program.”
Greyell further concluded that the city did not make application for disqualification within a time period specified in the Community Charter.
“Based on these conclusions,” Greyell said, “I dismiss the petition to have Ms. Butler disqualified from holding office on the city’ council.”
The city is expected to pay Butler’s court costs.
When reached for comment, Butler said, “I was really happy when I read the judgment and I was hoping we could move forward.”
The city had issued a press release mid-day Monday about the judgment, followed by a second a few hours later. “In my opinion, the city misrepresented the judge’s decision in the first press release and I asked it to be retracted.”
When asked what happens next, she said, “I’d be quite happy to see a full byelection because if this is the attitude moving forward, we’re not going to get anywhere.” Butler concluded, “There needs to be some outside intervention, in terms of an overview of the organization.”
Mayor Frank Konrad announced, “Council accepts the ruling and I am happy we can put this behind us and continue to move forward with the work of the city.”
The judgment is available for viewing on the city’s website at grandforksgazette.ca.
Konrad added that with the decision, the city can begin the process of holding a byelection for the lone seat available at the council table, which was left vacant with the resignation of Michael Wirischagin. The first step will be to appoint a chief election officer and deputy chief election officer. The election period itself is 80 days.
