Bracken off the hook for legal costs to Region
St. Catharines regional Coun. Andy Petrowski is solely responsible for paying legal costs of a failed lawsuit against Niagara Region after the municipality cut a deal with his co- litigant Fred Bracken last month.
The Region confirmed this week that it signed an agreement in December with Bracken not to pursue him for costs awarded by Justice David Edwards in May in exchange for “fair consideration” in another, undisclosed matter.
The deal means that Bracken is no longer responsible for the $ 5,500 in costs awarded to the Region after he and Petrowski failed in May to stop the release of integrity commissioner reports that found the councillor had violated council’s code of conduct on three occasions.
Claiming the reports violated his right to free expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and would hurt his reputation, Petrowski, jointly with Bracken, sued 24 of 31 regional councillors.
Among the handful of councillors not sued was Regional Chairman Alan Caslin.
Edwards threw the case out, saying the motion did not satisfy any of the elements of a court injunction and dismissed Petrowski’s claims about his reputation.
Edwards would not allow Bracken to make representations during the hearing, saying the Niagara resident had no legal standing in the case.
However, Edwards ruled that both Petrowski and Bracken had to pay $ 5,500 in legal costs to the Region.
The Region informed the Standard this week that in light of the agreement with Bracken, Petrowski is responsible for the full $ 5,500.
The Region said it has begun the process of collecting the money.
Petrowski — he took a leave of absence from council after a December integrity commissioner report found he had violated the code of conduct again — announced last week his intent to appeal Edwards’ dismissal of the charter challenge and the costs award. Petrowski also took to Twitter to ask for money. He tweeted at U. S. President Donald Trump and his sons asking for $ 10,000 for his “free speech fight,” claiming he had been “fined” for his tweets. He also set up a PayPal account to accept donations. After The Standard inquired about the tweet, Petrowski deleted it and closed the PayPal account. He said no money was collected.
While Edwards awarded costs to the Region, and some of Petrowski’s tweets were part of the May integrity commissioner’s reports, at no point was Petrowski fined for his tweets.
In December, Petrowski accused Edwards of fixing the May decision against him because the judge plays basketball with Caslin. In an email last week, Petrowski said Caslin’s relationship with Edwards will be part of his appeal.
Under Ontario law, a person has 30 days to appeal a decision. After that deadline has passed, a person can file a motion asking for permission to extend the deadline.
Petrowski would not answer questions Wednesday about his intended appeal or the Region’s agreement with Bracken. He asked the newspaper to “respect my privacy,” and said future questions sent to his personal email — his usual method of communicating with reporters — would “constitute harassment.”
“My legal counsel has advised that I stop communicating with The Standard. This is my final communication with you or anyone else at The Standard on this or any other subject matter now or in the future,” Petrowski wrote in an email.
The Standard’s editor- in- chief said reporters will continue to seek comment from Petrowski when appropriate.
“While I respect Coun. Petrowski’s request that we forgo contacting him, it’s obviously not reasonable. We still have a job to do, and Coun. Petrowski is still an elected member of regional council, even if he is on a leave of absence,” Scott said. “It would be a disservice to the residents of Niagara who pay Coun. Petrowski’s salary for us to not contact him and it would be a disservice to Coun. Petrowski himself for us to not try and get his side of a story that directly involves him.”
Last week, Petrowski told The Standard he will not seek re- election this year.