The Town of Athabasca no longer has a community peace officer. According to Coun.
The Town of Athabasca no longer has a community peace officer.
According to Coun. Joanne Peckham, chief administrative officer Doug Topinka notified councillors via email May 18 that Athabasca community peace officer (CPO) Shaun Woloschuk had been terminated.
Peckham said in a later interview Woloschuk had been on leave since December.
Woloschuk had been working for the town since November 2012.
Termination
Peace officers are mandated by the Alberta Justice and Solicitor General to uphold and enforce certain laws and regulations, and Peckham said Woloschuk had such a vested interest in the community and its well being that he went “over and above ” in his position.
Peckham said that after he went on leave, Woloschuk followed proper procedure in addressing concerns he had, as per the town's staff appeal procedure. She said she believed the procedure had “absolutely not ” been followed on the administrative side.
“He's been denied meeting after meeting, as per policy. He's done what he's supposed to - he's written his letter. He submitted it to the administrative committee, ” she said.
According to the appeal procedure policy, after an employee addresses their concerns with the head of the department - in this case, Topinka - they may write a letter to the administrative committee, which consists of all members of council. The committee is required to set up a meeting with the employee within 20 working days.
Peckham and Coun. Shelly Gurba said an administrative committee meeting was set up for Jan. 17 with Woloschuk and his lawyer, but three members of council - Councillors Tim Verhaeghe, Steve Schafer and Mayor Roger Morrill - walked out of the meeting and broke quorum.
“Then these guys walking out of the meeting when it was scheduled and we had Mr. Woloschuk and his lawyer - and they knew both of those people were going to be there, and they just thought it was perfectly fine to walk out of there, ” Gurba said. She added there has not been an administrative committee meeting since.
Coun. Tanu Evans corroborated there was an administrative meeting Jan. 17 and the three councillors walked out, but did not say whether the meeting involved Woloschuk or not.
“I kind of side with the three who left. We are not in a position to question our manager's decision. It's not our job. It's not what we're supposed to do, ” he said.
Peckham noted her concerns with the process of dealing with Woloschuk have led her to email the Municipal Affairs inspector responsible for the Town of Athabasca's ongoing inspection.
The CPO position
Coun. Tim Verhaeghe declined to comment on personnel matters, but in regards to the CPO position itself, said it would have to come back to council for discussion “to see which way we want to go. ”
“That hasn't come to council yet, so I can't comment on it, ” he said.
He added as far as he knows the CPO position still exists, “until administration brings it to us saying we need to go in one direction or another. ”
Topinka did not respond to a request for interview before publishing time.
Evans said the hiring of a new CPO would be done by Topinka on his own, but he should keep council in the loop.
“We would have no say in it whatsoever and that's a good thing, ” he said.
Evans said the town has an animal control bylaw officer, but no bylaw or peace officers at the moment.
He added he would love to have a conversation with council about refilling the position, and said he does not “believe in a peace officer. ”
“We have (a) provincial RCMP task force that should (be) and is responsible for doing the policing in this area, ” he said. “I would rather see someone focused on bylaw concerns… have someone just doing bylaw. I don't think we need a peace officer for a community this size. ”
- With files from Allendria Brunjes
