P.A. city councillor Evert Botha is again prohibited from holding key political roles after more code of ethics breaches.(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

quarrels and kangeroos

P.A. city councillor banned again from key roles after ethics violations

Jun 11, 2019 | 5:11 PM

In a lengthy saga of complaint and counter-complaint, Prince Albert city councillor Evert Botha has again been found to have breached council’s code of ethics and faces stiff political penalties. His lawyer has called the punishment excessive and ridiculous, while the mayor says he just wants Botha to stop the behavior and has confirmed he is also taking legal action.

As a result of his latest breach Botha cannot, for the rest of his political term, be appointed to chair or vice-chair of any committees, or become deputy mayor, nor can he speak on behalf of the city at public events. It’s the second such punishment for Botha following comments he made about a fellow councillor in 2018, for which he had to publicly apologize.

…a situation that is tainted by personal jealousies and rivalries _{– Gordon Kirkby}

The latest ethics issue came after two separate formal complaints were made by Botha against Mayor Greg Dionne in April 2017 and October 2018. Those complaints were heard by a tribunal comprised of other members of city council and were found to be unfounded. The mayor then filed an ethics complaint against Botha for having made those initial complaints, in part citing the code’s elements around “bullying or harassment.”

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The council tribunal found Botha’s complaints were made against the mayor, “either to harass and be disrespectful, or at least with a recklessness or indifference to whether [Botha’s] allegations were supported by or refuted by evidence known or available to him.”

The details of the complaints appear in the statement of claim in Dionne’s lawsuit against Botha. One surrounded comments Dionne made to a journalist that Botha considered confidential. The other complaint was an allegation Botha made that Dionne did not disclose a conflict of interest at an in camera meeting regarding Husky Oil.

Botha’s lawyer responds

With both Botha and Dionne recused from the council decision Monday evening, the punishment was handed down. Botha did not return to the table for the rest of the regular meeting but his lawyer spoke afterwards.

“In my view, councillor Botha is being singled out for extraordinary and excessive punishment,” Gordon Kirkby said, citing the similar penalty last year regarding comments he made about Dennis Orgronick that he says were simply worthy of “an apology over a cup of coffee.” He suggested Botha was in opposition [at the council table] so he was being silenced.

“It seems to me a situation that is tainted by personal jealousies and rivalries, large-P and small-P politics, and it is not worthy of the city council to be dealing with petty issues like this,” Kirkby said.

Kirkby reserved his strongest and most sarcastic comment for the council tribunal that found Botha guilty, saying he has heard from some people that the tribunal was a kangaroo court.

“I must strongly object to that, and on behalf of anybody that suggests that, I would apologize to all the kangaroos everywhere for the comparison.”

Mayor wants behavior to stop

paNOW asked Mayor Dionne if these sorts of ethics issues were bringing city council into disrepute.

…some people have their own agenda _{-Greg Dionne}

“Does it? A little bit,” he said. “But you have to react. At the end of the day he was found in the wrong. It’s him that has to correct his attitude, not us.”

Asked if squabbles among councillors should be kept private, Dionne said it was Botha who went public with his complaints and it was unfortunate that he now had to take matters up in the courts.

“It’s strictly because I have to be able to do my job. I can’t have somebody poking me in the back all the time. All I ask is that it stop,” he said. “It’s frustrating because I believe we should work closer as a team, but some people have their own agenda, and that’s unfortunate. They’ll be judged in 14 months by the voters.”

Court documents show Dionne is seeking $50,000 in general, special and punitive damages over what he alleges were “frivolous,vexatious and scandalous” allegations made by Botha and that the councillor was “acting out of malice.” Botha denies this, saying in his response to the statement of claim that he was “attempting to keep the elected officials of the city open and transparent,” and that Dionne breached confidential in camera matters “to further his personal aims and objectives of malice and spite.” No date has yet been fixed for the court proceedings.

While Botha was not available for comment he did post a Facebook comment Tuesday.

“In the Friends of Voltaire, Hall wrote the phrase: ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,’ as an illustration of Voltaire’s beliefs.

This quotation – which is sometimes misattributed to Voltaire himself – is often cited to describe the principle of Freedom of Speech.”

Editor’s note: this story was modified June 12 to add details regarding the damages being sought by Dionne and the positions of the two parties regarding the court case.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow