Probe finds councillor broke conflict rules
Wiebe urged to resign over breach after voting in favour of city's patio expansion policy
A Vancouver councillor says if he inadvertently breached conflict of interest rules, he is sorry.
“I didn't act in bad faith, and I didn't do anything to lie or deceive,” Green Coun. Michael Wiebe said Monday after an independent investigator said the politician is “disqualified from holding office” for breaching conflict rules.
The investigator's report says that Wiebe, who has interests in a pub and a restaurant in Vancouver, was in “a clear conflict of interest” when he participated in two council meetings in May discussing a temporary patio expansion program for bars and restaurants. Wiebe voted in favour of the patio policy at the May meetings, although when related matters came up the following month, he declared a conflict and recused himself.
The investigator's report, which has not been made public, was revealed Sunday by the Georgia Straight.
Wiebe said Monday he didn't think he was in a conflict in the May meetings, noting that the patio program was citywide, potentially affecting thousands of restaurants, cafes, bars and breweries.
Wiebe said he believes the policy, which aims to help businesses remain viable and operate safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, is good for the whole hospitality sector and the city in general, and did not specifically benefit his businesses over others.
Wiebe's financial disclosures, which are public, list him as owner-operator of Mount Pleasant's 8 1/2 Restaurant and an investor at Gastown's Portside Pub. The city approved 8 1/2 in June for one of the first temporary patio expansions, and Portside received approval four weeks later. Permitting is handled by city staff, and not voted on by council.
The investigation was prompted by a June complaint from retired lawyer Michael Redmond, after he read a Georgia Straight story about Wiebe's votes for the patio program.
Vancouver lawyer Raymond Young was asked to investigate and wrote the report, which Postmedia has reviewed. In it, Young recommended “it would be appropriate for Wiebe to resign his seat on council.”
Redmond said Monday that recent debates at the federal level in both Canada and the United States have underlined the importance of conflict-of-interest rules.
“If you ignore what people think of as small breaches of conflict of interest, it pretty soon leads to bigger breaches,” Redmond said. “Unless people actually stick by the rules and pay attention to them, public trust in democracy, which is already pretty low, is going to be undermined even further.”
Redmond said he doesn't know Wiebe and has nothing against him personally, but “considering the clear findings” in the report, he believes Wiebe should resign.
The Non-Partisan Association called on Wiebe to “do the right thing and resign.”
If Wiebe does not resign, the Vancouver Charter provides other options for his removal. A group of 10 Vancouver voters can apply for a court order to have him removed, or the city can apply to the courts, with the approval of two-thirds of council.
Mayor Kennedy Stewart said in a statement Monday that he received the investigator's report Saturday and is “reviewing it” to determine his “next steps,” which could include making recommendations to council.
Wiebe said that although the report is complete, the process is not, so he doesn't want to say too much now.
Asked if he was considering resigning, Wiebe said he's not making any decisions while the process is underway.
“I'm going to have to see what happens and take my fate,” Wiebe said. “Obviously, I'm in this process and I'm not sure where it's going to take me.”