Orillia city councillor Jay Fallis will have his day in court tomorrow.
On Oct. 1, the city’s integrity commissioner, Principles Integrity, found Fallis breached the code of conduct by sharing confidential information about a waterfront development project with legal counsel he hired for advice.
City council, at its Oct. 4 meeting, voted unanimously to suspend Fallis’s pay for 45 days — the maximum recommended by Principles Integrity.
On Oct. 29, Fallis announced, via law firm Ross and McBride LLP, that he had called for a judicial review of the ruling.
The goal of filing for a judicial review is to quash both the integrity commissioner’s report and council’s decision to suspend Fallis’s pay. Fallis is also seeking to be compensated for the cost of the judicial review application, his lawyers noted.
The notice of application claims Principles Integrity “unreasonably interpreted and applied the legal concept of solicitor-client privilege, including the way in which this privilege applies to other employees in a law firm, when it concluded that the applicant breached the Code of Conduct by sharing confidential information with his lawyers.”
It also alleges the integrity commissioner “unreasonably assessed whether the Code of Conduct had been breached based on its assessment of the applicant’s intentions in seeking independent legal advice, which should reasonably have been considered to be irrelevant.”
Among the many other accusations listed are that Principles Integrity “exceeded its jurisdiction by either deciding or opining on the correctness of the advice of the City Solicitor and whether there were in fact defects in the Request For Proposal documents” and “made contradictory findings of fact, and findings of fact that were not based on the evidence provided to it.”
Fallis’s lawyers also state the integrity commissioner’s report was prepared in “a procedurally unfair manner because the applicant was not interviewed during the inquiry, contrary to what is stated in the Recommendation Report.”
Jeffrey Abrams, co-operator of Principles Integrity, told OrilliaMatters in October: “We are going to defend (the recommendation report) vigorously and are optimistic.”
Mayor Steve Clarke, who lodged the complaint that led to the integrity commissioner’s investigation, told OrilliaMatters in October that he was “surprised” Fallis called for a judicial review.
“We went through a process where it was obvious a member of council had shared information with a third party, which was against the code of conduct, and he admitted doing so to council and the integrity commissioner,” Clarke said.
“I’m hoping the decision of the city will be upheld.”
The hearing, before the Ontario Divisional Court, is to begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning.
In a brief news release issued earlier today by Fallis, the ward 3 councillor said the hearing is to “consider whether an Orillia municipal councillor can consult an independent lawyer on a closed-session matter.”
“I encourage all Orillians to try and attend,” he said, noting people can request an invitation to the Zoom hearing by sending an email to [email protected].
Click here to access the public record of the proceedings, which includes all public documents pertaining to the case.
-- With files from Nathan Taylor
