The Town of Athabasca's council has voted 4-0 to go to the Court of Queen's Bench in a push to disqualify Mayor Roger Morrill and Coun. Tim Verhaeghe. At council's regular meeting on Feb.
The Town of Athabasca's council has voted 4-0 to go to the Court of Queen's Bench in a push to disqualify Mayor Roger Morrill and Coun. Tim Verhaeghe.
At council's regular meeting on Feb. 16, Councillors Nichole Adams, Shelly Gurba, Joanne Peckham and Tanu Tyszka-Evans voted for town administration to prepare and execute an application to take Morrill and Verhaeghe to the Court of Queen's Bench. The court would then decide whether there was enough evidence for their disqualification.
ìYour motion says I'm liable, î Verhaeghe said. ìTo who? How much? When? If you want to accuse me of liability, these are important questions. How much? î
Adams said she did not think anyone at the council table was making these decisions lightly, and stated the information as to why they were liable was not public.
ìI know it must look very strange on the outside looking in, and that we can't necessarily disclose all of our thought processes because there is so much in camera or covered by FOIP that we are not at liberty to make public, î she said.
Verhaeghe said these kinds of cases are rarely successful, and it would likely cost tens of thousands of dollars.
ìIf there are going to be motions made against Mayor Morrill and myself, mediation is thrown out the window, and we're going down a path that we might not be able to return from, î he also said.
Coun. Steven Schafer was absent from the meeting. Both Morrill and Verhaeghe stepped out of council chambers when the motion was brought to the table.
At a special meeting held Feb. 8, council carried a motion to disqualify Morrill and Verhaeghe, even though council lacks the authority to do so - only a Court of Queen's Bench can disqualify a councillor or mayor.
The motion stated that it found Morrill and Verhaeghe ìliable to the Town of Athabasca î and called for their disqualification under the Municipal Government Act.
This motion came on the heels of a motion made by Verhaeghe to call the town's lawyer regarding a statement made by a former employee, that the town's chief administrative officer (CAO) Josh Pyrcz was intimidating staff.
For more on town council's Feb. 8 meeting, click here.
Prior to the disqualification motion Feb. 16, town council also voted to remove Morrill and Verhaeghe from all boards, committees, societies and commissions unless they were specifically referenced in the Municipal Government Act or procedural bylaw.
Gurba made the motion, which was supported by Peckham, Tyszka-Evans and Adams.
ìBecause at our last meeting - our last special meeting - basically, the vote 4-1, we made a decision that we would disqualify the two mentioned, and Ö (we're just) going through the procedures to continue the steps, î Coun. Gurba said.
Town chief administrative officer Josh Pyrcz noted before the vote there is a procedural bylaw that the mayor is an ex officio member of all committees.
Read the next issue of the Athabasca Advocate for the full story.
