Athabasca County council should be applauded for conducting a far-reaching review of councillor Dowhaluk’s timesheets in light of discrepancies that were highlighted last month.
The only logical next step is for council to make the details of that review public.
The county has stated that upon review, council has decided the discrepancies are “inconclusive”; however, it is as much for the public to decide if that is the case as it is for council itself.
A number of questions remain unanswered: how is it that council so quickly and definitively sanctioned councillor Dowhaluk if the discrepancies were not conclusive? Why could the matter not have waited until the next regular council meeting, where the press and members of the public were more likely to be present? Considering the county’s own policy states that public works meetings should be used to discuss only public works issues, answers are needed.
