Nanaimo’s former CAO gets new date in court

Nanaimo’s former chief administrative officer has a new court date of Oct. 5 for a hearing on a peace bond sought by a special prosecutor.

Tracy Samra had been scheduled to appear in provincial court in Nanaimo on June 5 after an incident at the end of January.

Samra was arrested by RCMP as a result of allegations of threats uttered at Nanaimo City Hall, the B.C. Prosecution Service has said.

The application states that Nanaimo Mayor Bill McKay and councillors Sheryl Armstrong and Dianne Brennan, city staffers Sheila Gurrie, Jan Kemp and Donna Stennes, former municipal employees Brad McRae and Kim Fowler, and online journalist Dominic Jones have “reasonable grounds to fear” that Samra will cause personal injury to them.

At the hearing, the court will determine whether there is a proper foundation for the application for a peace bond, Robert Mulligan, Samra’s lawyer, said Friday. Evidence will be presented and assessed.

Interim release conditions will continue until the hearing, Mulligan said. They prohibit Samra from contact with the people named in the application and from going to Nanaimo City Hall.

Mulligan said Samra no longer lives on Vancouver Island.

The City of Nanaimo issued a statement last week stating that Samra was no longer employed by the city. No further details were released.

The city is in the process of choosing an interim CAO, expected to be hired this month.