Belleville Mayor Taso Christopher speaks to reporters about the conflict of interest decision, July 10, 2017 (Photo: Mary Thomas/Quinte News)
Belleville Mayor Taso Christopher says the decision handed down in the conflict of interest case against him “is good news.”
Mayor Christopher was referring to the decision by Kingston Superior Court Justice Timothy Ray who ruled that Mayor Christopher did have a pecuniary interest in the matter when, during capital budget deliberations last fall, he voted on a major project involving infrastructure upgrades around Maitland Drive in Thurlow ward.
Christopher was a director of a company that owned some land that the project would require.
#1 CHRISTOPHER
Mayor Christopher says this as a “unique situation” and the project was a big job for the city.
He says the judge appreciated that he was “honest about what happened, also it was an error in judgement, so at the end of the day the ruling is in my favour and I’m still mayor and that’s good.”
He pointed to changes underway in the provincial rules which will give elected officials and boards more leeway in debating issues such as the Maitland Drive project.
He said the conflict of interest act (Ontario Municipal Conflict of Interest Act) is changing “because they want healthy discussions, they want exercise of democracy, they want debating of issues, it just gives the elected officials, boards and police a little more structure.”
The mayor said it was good to have his “name cleared.” “I’m very happy about that for myself, my family. I tell you I’ve received hundreds of phone calls from elected officials, from the municipal level, provincial and federal levels. I want to thank them very much for their support.
