In a closed-session meeting Monday, city councillors approved an additional $55,000 to pay for potential legal fees related to a councillor’s call for a judicial review, bringing the city’s total approved funds for defending the case to $120,000.
Coun. Jay Fallis called for the review after he was sanctioned by the city's integrity commissioner and had his pay suspended for 45 days in 2021 for sharing confidential information about the city’s waterfront redevelopment project with outside legal counsel he had hired.
Following an integrity commissioner’s report that alleged Fallis had breached the city’s code of conduct and recommended suspending his pay for 30 to 45 days, council members unanimously voted to suspend Fallis’ pay for 45 days.
Funds for the city’s defence are coming from its tax rate stabilization reserve. Council initially approved $65,000 for the case in 2021.
In a statement to OrilliaMatters, Mayor Steve Clarke – who filed the initial complaint on Fallis’ actions – said the city intends to “vigorously” defend its case, but that it aims to not spend all of the approved funds.
“The total budget of $120,000 has been approved by Council. A final accounting of the legal costs will be provided when the matter is concluded before the courts, as the city expects to recover its costs from the applicant," said Clarke.
“The City of Orillia recognizes the importance of responsibly managing taxpayer dollars. Ensuring accountability and transparency is one of council’s key roles under section 224 of the Municipal Act, and is a priority in maintaining public trust,” Clarke said.
“The taxpayer has been put in this position by the initiation of the judicial process by the applicant. We as members of council, certainly, did not want to ever be in this situation in the first place.”
Fallis is being represented by Ashley Wilson and Wade Poziomka from Ross and McBride LLP. Speaking on behalf of Fallis, Wilson said Fallis initially sought out legal counsel with the city’s best interests in mind.
“Jay sought out legal advice about a closed session matter where he realized that the city was going to be making a very important financial decision, and he wanted to ensure that that was being done appropriately,” Wilson said.
“It's not about the suspension of his pay or the fact that he was reprimanded; the point of this case is to say councillors need to be able to be confident in the decisions that they're making on behalf of their constituents, and sometimes that's going to require specific legal advice,” she said.
Beyond the individual circumstances of Fallis’ penalization, Wilson said it’s important to establish that Fallis had not breached the city’s code of conduct so that other councillors may in turn seek legal advice on complex issues.
“It's a really important thing for taxpayers to know that their councillors can act in their best interests, and I think that what the city has done so far is preventing that from being the case,” she said.
“I think this is a really important matter for municipalities across the province,” Wilson said. “Councillors are required to make big decisions that might go beyond what you would expect them to have as their area of expertise, so I think it's really important for them to be able to access those resources.”
Wilson also highlighted that confidential city documents are safe with outside legal counsel due to attorney-client privilege.
“A lawyer, when you provide them information in confidence, is not allowed to use that information in any way – you're not allowed to publish it or disseminate it. Nothing changed about the confidentiality of those closed session documents”
The judicial review is set to take place on June 28.
