Quesnel Mayor Ron Paull has turned to the court to lift a censure imposed by fellow council members over his handling of a controversial book that questions claims about the conditions in residential schools.
A petition was filed Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Paul's behalf, in part seeking judicial orders to reinstate him to all boards and committees he had held prior to the censure and to declare the sanctions including, removing his travel and lobbying budgets, as unreasonable.
Council in the community of about 10,000 people 120 kilometres south of Prince George voted April 30 to censure Paull after it was learned his wife, Pat Morton, had been sharing copies of the book Grave Error: How the Meda Misled Us (and the Truth about Residential Schools.
Critics assert the book is an example of residential school denialism.
Paull had also been accused of suggesting the book as "reading material" to two Cariboo Regional District officials. In response, Paull has said a director at a CRD committee of the whole meeting raised concerns about books focused on sexual orientation and gender identity being available to children and youth in local libraries.
"At our CRD board meeting the next day, I brought my wife's copy of Grave Error and after the meeting, I showed it to two of my colleagues, and wondered what the CRD library would do with it," Paul said in an excerpt included in the petition.
The matter was first considered by council at its March 19 meeting when a letter from the Lhtako Dene Nation was submitted as a late item. According to minutes included in the petition, Paull said it was his wife who had the book and asserted he had not read it.
"To be honest, I have not even opened it, I looked at the cover but have no interest in looking at it," Paull is quoted as saying.
He went on to say he would "be the first" to "positively and meaningfully" reaffirm the memorandum of understanding between the city and the Lhtako Dene Nation and went on to list several of the city's "accomplishments" regarding Indigenous relations and reconciliation.
His statement did not go over well with Coun. Laurey-Anne Roodenburg, the council's Indigenous liaison. Roodenburg accused Morton of not respecting that Paull is the mayor and what she does not only reflects on Paull but "on our council and our community.'
The issue continued into the April 2 meeting when chiefs and elders from local Indigenous communities were invited to speak on behalf of their respective nations. When the floor was opened to the public for comments, Morton attempted to make her case but was told she could only ask questions or seek a point of clarity.
Once the hearing was over, Roodenberg brought a motion requesting that staff prepare a report on the potential censure of Paull. He was provided with a copy of the report on April 19 and in advance of the April 30 meeting.
In the petition, council is accused of breaching its duty of fairness owed to Paull and says he should have been notified of his alleged misconduct in a timely manner and given a "meaningful opportunity" to reply.
Council "ambushed" Paull at the April 2 meeting, the petition says. "Council orchestrated a public hearing into the allegations about his and his wife surrounding the Book without notice to the Petitioner."
That an open discussion about the matter was not on the meeting's agenda nor was the resolution seeking the report on the potential censure of Paull, according to the petition.
It also says that under the city's code of conduct, Paull should have been given 14 days notice of the censuring and sanctioning in order to provide hims with time to prepare a response.
The petition further alleges that the resolutions against Paull are unreasonable. The power to censure and sanction is not a tool to be wielded for "cheap political gain" but rather a means of regulating conduct where there has been a "substantial falling away."
"The allegation in this case is that the mayor's wife, who is not (word underlined) a member of council, shared the book with someone and that the mayor later showed (word underlined) the Book to two regional district directors after (word underlined) a meeting of the Cariboo Regional District. This is not a rational or reasonable basis for censuring and sanctioning an elected member of city council having regard for the legal and factual constraints.
"Further, council does not have the authority to prohibit the mayor from claiming legitimate expenses under its travel policy or to remove his lobbying budget. This policy applies to all (word underlined) members of council, regardless of whether they have been censured.
"Finally, the city repeatedly failed to comply with its own procedure bylaw with respect ot the adoption of the impugned resolutions."
None of the allegations has been tested in court and the defendant, listed as the City of Quesnel, has not yet filed a response. It will have 21 days to do so from the day it has been served with the petition.
