Morrill and Verhaeghe have every right to ask council to tell them what that liability is in a public forum. And we, the public, need council to be more forthcoming with that information before they drag us further into this mess.
At their meeting Feb. 16, the Town of Athabasca's council voted to put an application in to the Court of Queen's Bench to disqualify Mayor Roger Morrill and Coun. Tim Verhaeghe. The councillors who voted for the motion say there is a ìliability î to the town, but they will not say what it is.
Morrill and Verhaeghe have every right to ask council to tell them what that liability is in a public forum.
And we, the public, need council to be more forthcoming with that information before they drag us further into this mess.
The four who voted to remove these two members of council - Councillors Shelly Gurba, Joanne Peckham, Nichole Adams and Tanu Tyszka-Evans - have a duty to share their facts with the public.
We don't need to know all the details. There is already legislation and case law that sets the standards with respect to personnel privacy and legal privilege - the two reasons that Adams has cited for the ìin camera î evasion to the liability question.
Verhaeghe and Morrill are not asking for names. They are not asking for details in a situation.
What they are asking for is essentially an invoice. An expense report. A receipt. Some record of a cost that had no approval of council - something that would be a matter of public record if it existed.
Liability is a big allegation. By taking the path it has - toward the Court of Queen's Bench - council has ensured there are big financial ramifications. With so much at stake, one would expect a trail of evidence as a foundation for the accusation, one that could be shared with those it affects.
If the four councillors who voted for this motion cannot explain their actions to the people who put them there, then who are they serving with their silence?
Being a member of town council should not be a carte blanche. These elected representatives still need to meet a standard of transparency - and civility.
