A decision about censure and sanction pertaining to Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne has been postponed until the February meeting of the qathet Regional District (qRD) board of directors.
At the January 27 board meeting, during the unfinished business portion of the meeting, Electoral Area A director and board chair Patrick Brabazon said all directors had a letter from Daniel Coles, Gisborne’s legal counsel.
“I am going to move that in light of the receipt of the letter from director Gisborne’s counsel dated January 25, 2022, that the board postpone consideration of this item to the regular board meeting in February in order to assure procedural fairness to director Gisborne, and provide the regional district the opportunity to consider the concerns raised by director Gisborne’s counsel in the January 25 letter,” said Brabazon. “The letter from director Gisborne’s council is quite explicit. They maintain that we have not provided procedural fairness, with only a two-week interval between the formal motion to proceed and the actual motion regarding censure and sanction. We should tread very carefully on procedural fairness. We want to not only do the right thing, but we want to be seen to do the right thing. Therefore, I’m suggesting postponement.”
Gisborne said this matter is very stressful on him, his family and his community.
“Continuing to drag it out puts additional stress and strain on myself, my family and my community,” said Gisborne. “If the board wishes to postpone this matter, they may do so. I would have appreciated being informed that it was the intent to postpone.
“As you can see on the list of participants, Daniel Coles is in attendance. He is willing to present. He is here on my dime. Waiting until next month to have him present will add further cost.”
Gisborne said the board may choose to postpone, but he believed it was worthwhile to allow him to present.
The regional board voted in favour of postponement, with Gisborne opposed.
According to the resolution of censure, as written in the chair’s report, dated January 13, 2022, on November 9, 2021, in contravention of the code of conduct:
“Gisborne made inappropriate statements about the proposed Random and Douglas Bay roads neighbourhoods, which were misleading, offensive and insulting to the residents of those neighbourhoods who signed petitions regarding restrictions on commercial and industrial uses, and qathet Regional District wishes to publicly censure director Gisborne for his inappropriate comments and offers the regional district’s sincere apology for the impact of these actions on the residents and our community.
“The board expects that director Gisborne will adopt a thoroughly professional attitude with regard to his work, comments and debate, and that he will adhere to the requirements of the code of conduct, and display the respect due to other directors, qRD staff and the public.”
The chair’s report listed sanctions. These included lifting Gisborne from the rotating position of vice-chair. The second was that Gisborne be denied financial support for attendance at annual general meetings of the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities and Union of BC Municipalities, the electoral area forum and meetings of the local government leadership academy.
The report stated that if approved, these sanctions would take immediate effect and expire with the end of this term of office in October 2022, unless earlier lifted, and that the board include on the June 16, 2022, committee of the whole agenda the consideration to remove all sanctions against Gisborne.
Counsel comments
Regarding the sanctions, Coles, in his letter, said the sanction does not include a reprimand of Gisborne, or limit its scope to his roles within the assembly.
“Instead, it goes considerably further by imposing financial penalties and restrictions on him, designed to limit his ability to work as a director, and no doubt limit his future political prospects,” stated Coles. “The proposed sanctions are abusive, excessive and inconsistent with the nature of the proposed censure. They are not property aligned or proportional to the nature of the censure itself.”
At the meeting, prior to dealing with the matter of censure and sanction, there were two delegations and two pieces of correspondence regarding the matter. The regional board heard delegations from Tom Read and Lorne Marr.
Read brought up concerns over procedural matters regarding Gisborne’s censure and sanction, while Marr read a petition from Electoral Area B residents expressing concerns about the censure and sanction.
The board also received correspondence from Alton Toth, District of Sechelt councillor, and Sherry Burton, a Powell River resident, supporting Gisborne.
