Integrity commissioner report says two Regina councillors should apologize for lawsuit

Tensions are still high at Regina City Hall months after a judge dismissed a lawsuit by a city councillor.

Two reports are expected to be tabled by the city’s Integrity Commissioner, Angela Kruk, on Wednesday.

The first one stems from two complaints from the public about councillors Andrew Stevens and Dan LeBlanc through the Code of Ethics bylaw. The second concerns Stevens issuing a confidential report.

The first report is recommending that city council request Stevens and LeBlanc provide a written apology to city manager Niki Anderson. The report also recommends the two city councillors be reprimanded.

In November, Stevens launched court action against Anderson after she didn’t include nearly $25 million in funding for the homelessness plan. LeBlanc — a lawyer acting on behalf of Stevens and a member of the public — sought to force Anderson to include the funding for the plan in the budget.

The application was tossed out of court in December.

Stevens said Monday he does not issue fake apologies. He acknowledged that if there were any hardships to anyone’s personal experiences, he is sorry about that.

But he also said this is a matter of a vote for council, so if it asks him to write a letter, he will.

“It will be very honest and sincere to my beliefs and I think it’s also going to be sincere to the fact we did this for one reason, which is the court decision, and the Integrity Commissioner make clear (that) homelessness is a vital issue that council, municipalities and the community are actually concerned with,” Stevens said.

He pointed out he is willing to take the consequences that come his way, but said he’s not going to presume what those could be.

Stevens said the report comes from private discussions and he did not ask what was in those discussions.

“That’s their prerogative and I’m not going to interfere with that at all,” he said.

Stevens said seeing the report on the agenda was not much of a surprise because both he and LeBlanc knew it was coming.

“It’s been an issue that we’ve been dealing with for months — since at least June — and with the motion unanimously to put homelessness in the budget,” he said. “You can’t expect to push and advance an issue that is of great importance to the community to this extent and not believe that there’s going to be no repercussion.”

He also said the lawsuit meant no disrespect to Anderson and that it was inconvenient timing.

“There was no evidence or reason to believe that Coun. LeBlanc and I bullied or harassed the city manager in accordance with that section of the Code of Ethics and that’s absolutely important to us,” he said.

Stevens said he and LeBlanc believed so much in the homelessness issue that they were willing to do whatever it takes.

He also does not believe this could’ve been handled differently.

“There was a serious commitment by the mayor and others to advance this, to take homelessness seriously. The nuclear option was raised because there was nothing else at that point,” Stevens said.

He explained he put forward an offer with his council colleagues for proper mediation.

“I’ve done my part. I hope that this is it because it’s a waste of collective time and it’s misdirecting the public from important issues that we’re working on,” Stevens said.

Stevens reacts to report involving Coun. Terina Nelson

The second report suggests city council should reprimand Stevens for disclosing a confidential report and to also issue a written apology to Coun. Terina Nelson.

Stevens admitted he was wrong for sharing that document with his council colleagues.

“I apologized to Coun. Nelson at the time, she sat on it, waited and I believe this is a form of political retribution,” he said.

Stevens explained if he is told to apologize, it will be to his council colleagues and the public.

Stevens also called this a complete waste of time.

“This is going to be one of the most expensive replies of all mistakes in human history and if Coun. Nelson wants to spend her time doing so, that’s her prerogative,” he said.

Stevens said since the incident took place, Nelson has said some things about him that are untrue.

“I’m very disappointed that Coun. Nelson has decided to use vindictiveness and the Integrity Commissioner process to get at me,” he said. “It’s a vain attempt because it’s not affecting me personally because I’m more committed to this community and serving this city.”