Is There Now Another Integrity Commissioner Matter Being Discussed by Council in a CLOSED Session

Why is this item on the Tuesday Council meeting:

Breach of Solicitor-Client Privileged Information involving an On-going Litigation Matter.

Does the Breach have anything to do with the the remarks ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns made during a Burlington Downtown Business Association (BDBA) regular Board meeting?

Lisa Kearns, Councillor ward 2

Tim O’Brien, candidate ward 2

Keith Demoe, candidate ward 2

The Gazette is aware that Kearns reported what she had done to the Integrity Commissioner.  The Gazette is also aware that Keith Demoe, a candidate for the ward 2 seat spoke to the Integrity Commissioner inquiring about how he could file a complaint about confidential information being made public by Kearns.

Demoe told the Gazette that he was told by the Integrity Commissioner that nothing could or would be done by his office until the election was over.

That being the case – why is this matter before city Council as urgent business.  Any urgency was destroyed the moment Kearns opened her mouth.

Is the city going to see a performance similar to the one done by the Mayor when she decided she needed to re-order the Agenda of a Council meeting.

That event has become a part of Burlington’s political history.  If you missed it – click HERE to see just how vindictive our Mayor can be.  She is asking to be re-elected.

 

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9 comments to Is There Now Another Integrity Commissioner Matter Being Discussed by Council in a CLOSED Session

  • Bonnie

    We were glad to read that Lisa Kearns owned her mistake and spoke to the Integrity Commissioner. However, it seems strange that the issue cannot be resolved during an election period.
    Obviously, this rule would also apply to candidates, who may be breaking rules while campaigning, with no consequences applied until after the election.

    • Mary Hill

      Stolte did not own her breach of confidentiality nor apologize or show remorse for it.

    • Keith Demoe

      The breach was reported to the integrity commissioner, but not by Lisa…that’s why Lisa came up with the apology since the integrity commissioner cannot do anything during an election. If she’s willing to release confidential information this easily, then what other confidential information is she releasing or will release?? Lisa Kearns doesn’t take the position seriously and there seems to be trust issues. Lisa Kearns is just waiting for an opportunity to jump to provincial position…like she did earlier this year.

      • David Barker

        Mr. Demoe. You say Councilor Kearns did not report herself to the Integrity Commissioner. How do you know that? Was it you who made the report?

        Are you not showing the same opportunism of which you accuse Councilor Kearns by jumping from School Board Trustee position to Councilor position?

        From what I hear Councilor Kearns has represented her ward well and works very hard.

        In business I was taught early to never bash your competitor to your would be Client. By doing so you imply your would be Client made a poor decision. Extole your virtues and let the would be client come to the “right” decision themselves.

        So, did you report Councilor Kearns to the Integrity Commissioner?

      • Bob

        You were just as free with the information that YOU knew shouldn’t have been In the public domain. Easy to criticize but you don’t seem any less guilty of spreading the information, so why should we cast our vote your way?
        You accuse the incumbent of wanting to move higher up the political food chain and yet that is exactly what you are doing yourself in moving from being a school trustee, So far I see nothing in your campaign that makes me comfortable to make the switch to a candidate that runs on a platform of division. We have enough of that with the current mayor and her two henchmen.

        Editor’s note: How was Demoe supposed to know that what he was hearing was confidential. He didn’t even know that the BDBA existed; he was invited because he was a candidate. He wasn’t told by the Executive Chair – he was told AFTER the meeting via an email that had come from the office of the Chair of the BDBA. That chair happened to be a lawyer who used his business address – leaving Demoe and O’Brien to believe that they were getting a letter from a lawyer. O’Brien is reported to have suffered some indigestion when the notice came to him. The BDBA Executive Director failed his organization; Kierns should begin packing some duct tape in her purse

  • Penny Hersh

    It will be interesting to see how Council handles this “Breach of Solicitor-Client Privileged Information involving an On-going Litigation Matter.”

    Residents should not forget how 2 councillors and the mayor treated Councillor Stolte with regard to the complaint made to the Integrity Commissioner for a similar issue.

    There should be no extenuating circumstances. In this instance the Councillor divulged confidential information. Some might think that perhaps where it occurred was in a meeting that was considered to be confidential, however, under NO circumstances should this information have been shared with anyone.

    Let’s hope there are not two sets of rules with regard to this breach.

    • Mary Hill

      We’re you not very supportive of Councilor Stolte when she broke confidentiality on the Bateman purchase? I think you were. Now you flip flop because it suits.

    • You are absolutely right Penny, unfortunately there is a cut off in terms of how close to an election an Integrity Commissioner can investigate. However, the public know Kearns not only admits she broke the confidentiality rule, she then tried to avoid accountability by trying to get Pepper to pull the facts. The DBA meeting information is claimed to be confidential until the minutes are released. The minutes are likely available to be read by all members. If the meeting was confidential Tim and Keith would have been told that was a condition of joining the meeting. The confidentiality issue was not raised until the story broke. Smells as bad as kippers!

      • Mary Hill

        Marsden, maybe she attempted to get the Gazette to pull its story so as to mitigate the breach. Did that ever cross your mind?

        Talking of smelly kippers, when are you going to live up to the levels of transparency and accountability that you demand of others. You continue to ignore very pertinent questions put to you. As a mayoral candidate it is incumbent upon you to answer questions from your electorate.

        As respects breaking confidentiality, you provided vociferous support for Councilor Stolte’s breaching of council confidentiality, saying her aim of more transparency justified it.

        You have been asked now on many occasions “will you abide by the City’s Code of Good Governance (which includes a confidentiality provision) as it currently stands and until such time as you are able to gain council support to change it?

        Please stop ignoring this question and have the decency to answer it.