Medicine Hat city council next meets on Sept. 3. File Photo/CHAT News

By Eli J. Ridder

Both sides find positives in Medicine Hat judicial review ruling

Aug 28, 2024 | 1:11 PM

Both the mayor and councillors have taken away positives from a court ruling that found council’s sanctions on Linnsie Clark for breaking its code of conduct “logical” but also that most of the measures were “disproportionate and unreasonable.”

While the mayor’s powers and salary have been restored by a Calgary judge, the sanction by council requiring Clark issue an apology after a tense exchange with City Manager Ann Mitchell was left untouched.

Coun. Shila Sharps said Tuesday she was relieved the legal case — started earlier this year by Clark — was over but remained skeptical about an apology the mayor would still be required to give.

“I requested an apology and so here we are a year and a week later and we’re still at the same place,” she told CHAT News from in front of city hall.

Councillors have repeatedly said that if Clark had apologized to Mitchell last year, there would have been no need for the code of conduct complaint filed by Sharps, a resulting investigation and a series of sanctions — a cascade of events that pushed council into a leadership crisis.

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“If there is an apology, how is it authentic? I don’t want to prejudge, but that’s where my head is right now,” Sharps added.

Coun. Shila Sharps says council should be united moving forward. Eli J. Ridder/CHAT News

However, Sharps still wants the apology to happen so the sanction’s requirements can be fulfilled and council can get back to business.

“Please just say sorry so we can move on and as whether it’s me as a leader or her as a leader, you have to be able to pivot, say sorry, and really move on very quickly.”

She also hopes both council and the mayor can be united moving forward.

“Both parties have to do better, and what’s sad is we shouldn’t be two parties; we should be one party — it’s mayor and council.”

Another sanction banning Clark from direct contact with staff and restricting her contact with the city manager was sent back to council for further consideration.

Mayor Linnsie Clark said late on Monday she was “very pleased” her powers and salary were restored.

“I am very pleased that our Superior Court restored my powers, duties and salary — finding that these sanctions were overwhelmingly disproportionate to the public questions I raised during our Aug. 21, 2023, meeting,” Clark said in a statement.

“I also want to express my sincere gratitude to all of my supporters through this process,” she added.

Seven councillors voted to strip Clark of her mayoral powers in March after finding she broke council’s code of conduct by failing to treat city manager Mitchell with courtesy, dignity and respect.

READ: Medicine Hat’s council divide deeper than one-off act of misconduct

Council based its decision on a third-party report from a Kingsgate Legal investigator that found “sufficient evidence” the mayor broke the conduct bylaw during a tense exchange at a public council meeting in August 2023.

Justice Rosemary Nation, of Calgary’s Court of King’s Bench, heard from lawyers representing both the mayor and city in a hearing as part of a judicial review Clark hoped would reverse council’s limits and 50 per cent salary cut.

In her ruling, Nation struck down four of six sanctions placed on Clark. A letter of reprimand and a required apology from Clark was found to be “reasonable” by the judge.

Mayor Linnsie Clark says she is ‘very pleased’ a Calgary judge restored her mayoral powers. File Photo/CHAT News

Clark revealed she will seek assistance from the court to cover her legal costs.

The mayor has not yet confirmed if she would abide by council’s sanction to issue an apology to Mitchell.

“I believe that all parties involved, including myself, have learned valuable lessons from this experience,” Clark said.

“For example, in June, council voted unanimously to direct administration to establish an integrity commissioner that would deal with code of conduct complaints and provide members of council with advice in relation to code of conduct compliance,” she added.

“This as a huge step in the right direction.”

Clark also encouraged the Alberta government to establish an independent municipal integrity and ethics commissioner, a desire that has been echoed by other members of council and some political observers.

The public has largely been divided into three camps: those who are in favour of council’s restrictions on Clark, those who are supportive of the mayor’s positions and those that want the entire horseshoe to step down in favour of new leadership.

Sharps said Tuesday she doesn’t expect many Hatters to change their minds based on the ruling.

“People are still going to see what they want to see, and that’s unfortunate because all there is to see is some facts here on both parties,” she said.

Inspection request

Sharps’ cautiously positive takeaway from the

Coun. Andy McGrogan late on Tuesday said he intends to propose that city council requests the Alberta government conduct a municipal inspection of Medicine Hat’s elected and staff leadership bodies.

“As it has been over a year since the mayor has had opportunity to apologize in order to more effectively serve our community and no attempts have been made, it is my intention to bring a notice of motion forward requesting the Alberta government conduct a municipal inspection of the administration, the mayor and council,” he said in a statement.

Coun. Andy McGrogan plans to propose council requests a provincial inspection. File Photo/CHAT News

He added the notice of motion — which acts as an advance warning ahead of a formal proposal — was prepared earlier this week and before a Calgary justice in a ruling agreed Clark broke council code of conduct but found council’s imposed sanctions were “unreasonable.”

READ: Coun. Andy McGrogan’s full statement

McGrogan in the statement said he was “pleased the justice confirmed that the mayor did breach the council code of conduct and confirmed the validity that the sanction that the mayor apologize to the city manager for her disrespectful exchange in the open meeting of August 21, 2023.”

“I eagerly await the mayor’s apology and hope it will begin to recover the relationships injured as a result of the exchange and the events that led to the exchange in the first place,” McGrogan added.

“It has always been my view that a sanction must be commensurate with misconduct, and I certainly understand that the justice did her job and ruled as she did when looking at the singular exchange.”

Clark has yet to confirm publicly if she will issue the apology.