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Saskatoon city councillor Darren Hill’s job as Ward 1 representative could be on the line at Monday’s council meeting.
After the delayed civic election last Nov. 13, all council candidates were expected to disclose their campaign contributions by Feb. 16.
According to a report filed by returning officer Scott Bastian, nine council candidates did not file by that deadline. That included Hill, who was elected by a margin of just 56 votes over runner-up Kevin Boychuk.
Boychuk was also on that list. Hill did finally file on March 4, with expenses totaling $14,977.49
A city administration summary states, “Bylaw 8491, The Campaign Disclosure and Spending Limits Bylaw, 2006, requires that each person that was nominated in accordance with The Local Government Election Act, 2015 to be a candidate in the civic election, submit a public campaign disclosure to the Returning Officer.”
Bastian was then required to forward a report to city council that summarizes all campaign contributions and expenses. For those who have not filed their papers on time, the City Clerk is instructed to prosecute all candidates who have breached that deadline, the following day.
According to Section 24 of the bylaw, anyone who files late can be subject to fines of up to $5,000 per day, until the information is properly submitted. Because Hill is an elected councillor, according to Section 25 of the bylaw, he is disqualified, and must immediately resign.
However, he has not done so yet.
Hill says when he filed the paperwork required, he noted on his submission the reasons for filing late.
“On Feb. 1 of 2021, I was diagnosed with COVID-19 and I experienced almost every symptom attributed to COVID, including the brain fog. And I’ve not fully recovered entirely. To date, I still experience fatigue, loss of smell and taste comes and goes … and I still get brain fog on occasion,” he said.
“So, I’ve been dealing with the effects of COVID-19 as well as recovering from — still continue to recover from — my traumatic brain injury, and as a result with my health issues that precluded me from filing at the time,” he added.
Hill was first elected to council in 2006 and maintained that he’s never filed his campaign contributions or any other related material late.
“I’ve filed election campaign materials since my very first election in 2006 and every subsequent election, and they’ve always been filed on time and without error,” he said.
He said one of the hardest things he’s done in his career was when council had to investigate and sanction a council colleague on a previous occasion.
“So, I need to publicly apologize to my colleagues in council for putting them in a similar position with the late filing of my campaign disclosure and I apologize to my constituents,” Hill said.
Bastian said Hill’s violation needs direction and action from council because he hasn’t yet resigned. The bylaw also states that a Court of Queen’s Bench judge can also decide that if an honest mistake has been made, the candidate in question may not have to resign.
The report also indicates that Ward 3 council candidate Christopher Sicotte still has not filed the necessary paperwork, and mayoral candidate Mark Zielke also didn’t file his disclosure of campaign contributions by the March 15 deadline.
No candidate exceeded their spending limits.
