Firm hired as Nanaimo mediator suing city for $52,573 payment

A Vancouver human resources firm hired in 2015 to help resolve bitter conflicts in Nanaimo is suing the city, saying it wasn’t paid for the work it did.

The Integrity Group: Education and Conciliation Ltd. filed notice of civil claim filed Jan. 12 in the B.C. Supreme Court’s Vancouver courthouse, stating that Nanaimo owes it $52,573.

The consulting company was hired in early 2015 to serve as a mediator at Nanaimo City Hall, where tensions were running high.

A confidential email written in 2015 by Mayor Bill McKay as part of the consultant’s work was made public in November 2016, sparking an uproar among council members.

McKay described some councillors as mentally ill and bullies and another as a follower. One councillor’s thoughts demonstrated hate, anger and contempt, he wrote.

The mayor said then that he had been asked to provide the consultant with information about council.

He said one copy of the email was sent to Integrity Group’s Heather MacKenzie and another to Ted Swabey, who was the city’s chief administrative officer at the time.

Copies of the email were given to council by a local resident, who said he found it under the windshield of his truck.

McKay said was appalled that the email was leaked, calling it a serious privacy breach.

Councillors were aghast and angry at the contents of the email.

In November 2016, McKay said that a significant part of the Integrity Group’s mediation work had been completed, but that after Swabey left the municipality “that work was discontinued.”

Tracy Samra, who took over as chief administrative officer, said in 2016 that the mediator had billed $50,000. Nanaimo needed to verify services were provided and that there was something in place authorizing those services to be delivered, she said.

Integrity Group’s notice of claim states that McKay told MacKenzie in a May 2015 meeting that he had the authority to have Nanaimo hire the company. They agreed that the fee would be $295 per hour.

The claim said MacKenzie then met with council members.

Integrity Group’s work continued until Dec. 18, 2015, the claim said.

Nothing has been proved in court. A court date has not been set.

Once served with the claim, the city has 21 days to respond.

Samra said in a statement Friday, “We have not been served yet. So I am unable to comment on the litigation directly.”

She added: “Since 2016, city staff have been unable to verify the arrangements between Mayor McKay and Ms. MacKenzie. Prior to rendering payment for any services the city’s procurement policies require Ms. MacKenzie to provide supplemental information to verify the services that she has allegedly provided and billed to the City of Nanaimo.

“After conducting an investigation into the Integrity Group work and a related matter, council elected to discontinue her services.”

McKay said Friday that he was not aware of a lawsuit. If an action is filed in court, “then I cannot possibly comment on this if it is going in front of the courts,” he said.