Crown appeals acquittal of Probe

Sherwood RM ex-councillor, meanwhile, Calls for reeve to resign

A corruption case that shook the Rural Municipality of Sherwood has not ended with the acquittal of Tim Probe.

The Crown filed papers this month to appeal a June ruling that found the former councillor not guilty of breach of trust and municipal corruption.

That move came just weeks after Probe was back in the council chambers where he once served. He wasn’t there to take his seat, which remains vacant. He was there to demand an independent investigation into what he calls a “setup” — and to call on Reeve Jeff Poissant to resign.

“If he’s an honourable person he’ll do the right thing and step down,” Probe told the Leaderpost this week while describing the mid-june meeting.

Poissant said he excused himself from the meeting as Probe spoke. He said he has no intention of resigning, but declined to comment further on the dispute between the two rural politicians.

It dates back to a coffee shop meeting in February of 2016, when Probe and Poissant discussed issues facing the RM at the time. Poissant secretly recorded the meeting. His recording formed the basis for the criminal charge and subsequent trial, where Poissant alleged that Probe offered him a vote-trade deal.

On June 7, 2018, Justice Richard Elson found Probe not guilty on all counts. It’s that decision the Crown is now taking back to the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan. Prosecutors allege that Elson made an error in law by refusing to hear relevant evidence and in wrongly interpreting the essential elements of the offence, among other issues.

The Crown’s case centred on Poissant’s recording. Probe can be heard saying “I’m not going to do one without the other.” The Crown argued that he was linking votes on two issues: The repayment of legal fees for his role in a 2014 inquiry and a Suncor Development slated for property owned by Poissant’s parents. Probe argued that he was referring to safety concerns around that project.

He told the Leader-post that his words were taken out of context and said he feels wronged.

“I felt there was an attack upon me and I asked them for an investigation into the situation that led up to this,” Probe said of his comments to his former colleagues on council. “I want the truth.”

Deputy Reeve Carl Husum said all councillors want the truth, whatever it might be. He said Probe’s request has been forwarded to the RM’S administration for review. He expects a response in the near future.

Husum said he knows Probe wants to reclaim his seat on council, but that will have to wait until live legal issues are resolved.

“The Municipalities Act is very clear on this,” Husum said. “Everything remains the same until that case has been heard.”

He’s referring to another case due to come before the Court of Appeal. This one filed by Probe, who is seeking to overturn a January decision that removed him from council. The ruling revolved around the same legal fees that came up during his criminal trial. A judge found Probe was in a conflict of interest for voting to defer a motion — the second of its kind — that would have seen him ordered to pay back nearly $50,000 in reimbursed fees.

Probe disagreed then, and still does today.

“I was not voting on that pecuniary matter,” he said. “I was voting on a procedural correctness, whether a motion could be brought back or not.”

The Court of Appeal has not yet confirmed a date to hear the case. Probe expects he will be successful and automatically returned to his post.

“I think as the last case has turned out, the future cases will turn out the same way,” Probe said.

He said his call for Poissant to step down is related largely, but not exclusively, to fallout from his legal case.

“He campaigned on a premise of healing the RM, and as far as I can see it, with his actions and with what he’s taken, he’s done nothing but tear it apart further,” said Probe.

“If he really is out for the best interest of the RM, he would resign.”

Husum countered that the RM is functioning well.

“The RM is conducting business as usual,” he said. “Regardless of what is going on, I believe that all of council is acting with professionalism. And as far as any divides, I’m not prepared to comment on that.”