A report made public Friday is critical of the way decisions have been made in the RM of Corman Park.
With less than a week to go before voters in the rural municipality go to the polls, Mel Henry, the reeve, has been handed an independent review, saying he has potentially breached sections of the municipalities act.
Back in July, council had asked a third party to come in and prepare a report on its findings. Now that report says Henry participated in discussions and votes where he may have had a financial conflict of interest. It also concludes he may have violated the RM's code of ethics.
The report is now public, with less than a week before he hopes to be re-elected.
“The timing of this and the timing of the two harassment complaints coming after a year are a bit suspect,” says Henry.
The independent report concludes that there may have been a flawed harassment investigation, resulting in significant legal costs.
There are also allegations of retaliation against those who brought the complaint - leading to severance costs, breaches of the Municipality Act and the RM’s code of conduct by the reeve, and a lack of transparency.
Now the Corman Park council is divided.
John Germs, a councillor for Croman Park, believes the report is accurate. “The report is based on facts, it doesn't surprise me the findings, it certainly deals with the issues the municipality has been dealing with the last number of years"))
But Henry disputes much of the report’s findings, and insists no one was targeted. “There was no retaliatory action taken by myself or by members of council.”
The report recommends releasing the findings to the public before the election, and ensuring the Reeve and council undergo governance training after the election.
“The timing is obviously unfortunate for one of the candidates in the election, however the facts are the facts, this is something we are going to have to deal with,” says Germs.
Judy Harwood and Malcolm Chalmers are both challenging Mel Henry for the reeve’s chair in next municipal election.
