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It will be up to a Court of Queen’s Bench judge in Saskatoon to decide whether Coun. Darren Hill gets to keep his job as Ward 1 representative.
During a late-night debate and decision, councillors voted unanimously to adopt a motion introduced by Coun. Troy Davies. It read in part: “Be it resolved that the Saskatoon City Solicitor’s Office be instructed to cause an application to be brought in the Court of Queen’s Bench to determine whether Councillor Darren Hill has ceased to be qualified to remain a member of council.”
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 became the only elected candidate to do so. He finally filed the paperwork on March 4.
According to Section 24 of Bylaw 8491, 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, one part of Section 25 also indicates that a judge can also make the decision, and if an honest mistake has been made, the councillor may not have to to resign.
Hill has stated he was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Feb. 1 and has since suffered from a variety of ailments, including brain fog. He also suffers from the effects of a traumatic brain injury that occurred in 2016.
After the decision late Monday night, Hill said he believed council had done a good job.
“They (council) couldn’t do nothing. I think the citizens wanted to ensure that they were upholding the bylaw, and this way it ends up in front of somebody that is independent, unbiased, and reviews the matter for the facts and has an opportunity with no prejudice either way when doing that review,” he said.
In the meantime, Hill can continue to sit as a councillor, after taking some time off in April for a health treatment plan. He said he didn’t take part in Monday’s meeting because he thought the optics would look poor.
Another motion that passed unanimously was introduced by Coun. Mairin Loewen that the council report on the matters be forwarded to the Saskatoon Municipal Review Commission about making sure there’s more consistency and clarity when submitting and disclosing election paperwork.
Hill said while he’s filed paperwork during other elections on time, there could be a variety of reasons for people filing late.
“Were there medical issues, were there COVID issues? Is it fair to fire them (candidates) off to face a potential $5,000 fine without having some understanding as to why they were late?” he said. “We had a blizzard, we have a pandemic. It could be one of many things as to why each of those people were late.”
Mayor Charlie Clark said deferring the decision to a judge reduces the chance of public scruity, and is the quickest route to bring the matter to an end.
“(It) is really important in thise case that we make a decision the public can see is independent and as fair as possible. Esspecially when you have a case a fellow colleague and politicians making a decision about one of their own,” Clark told the Brent Loucks Show Tuesday.
“Regardless of what we would have done this would’ve gone through a judge. This way we just get that process underway and get it resolved as quickly as possible.”
Clark said the disqualification of a councillor has only happened twice in the city’s history. Both cases date back to the early 1900s.
It’s not clear yet how long it will take for the court application to be sent in, or when a judge may make their decision.