Bail expected: lawyer
Province won’t interfere in St. John’s budget, says spokesman
The lawyer for accused murderer Ray Stacey is expecting his client to be granted bail as early as next week. “In all the circumstances, we anticipate Mr. Stacey will be granted judicial interim release,” Bob Buckingham told The Telegram Friday.
The provincial government won’t intervene in the St. John’s budget battle.
Downtown business owners Bob Hallett and Jason Brake this week asked Municipal Affairs Minister Eddie Joyce to overturn the city’s 2016 budget, which they called “the worst budget in the history of this 500-year-old city” and warned it would be disastrous for residents and businesses.
Joyce was not available for an interview, but a spokesman for the department provided a statement saying the provincial government will not interfere.
“The only instances where we would intervene in municipal operations are where there has been fraudulent activity or a serious breach of legislative authority,” reads the statement. “The City of St. John’s council is a democratically elected body with the authority to prepare budgets and is ultimately accountable to the residents of the city of St. John’s. We urge the business community to continue to work with the City of St. Johns on these issues.”
Hallett and Brake said Friday they hadn’t heard back from the department yet, but Hallett called the statement “pathetic.”
“When you see the economic generation that St. John’s brings to the province, and you see how delicate we are in the current situation, I think the minister of Municipal Affairs owes more to us than lip service,” he said. “I don’t understand how he could see the passion and the anger and the fear that’s in this room and just wave his hands in the air and say ‘tough.’”
Hallett said they’ll continue “aggravating and agitating” the city about the budget, while Brake said all of city spending is under a microscope.
“I’m just starting to dig in,” he said. “We’re going to look at every single cost that the city is incurring. We’re going to look at every single line item that the city has. We’re going to dig in and find out where all the money is going, from gym memberships to whatever is going on with regards to the port authority, to whatever is going on with regards to vacation pay, to whatever is going on with regards to anyone who is receiving any benefit whatsoever. We’re going to magnify it, we’re going to bring it to the media and we are digging in.”