An application was brought against Ms. Fran Sainsbury, a municipal councillor in New Tecumseth, alleging that she breached section 5(1)(c) of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act (the “Act”). This section states that where a councillor has any pecuniary interest, she “shall not attempt in any way whether before, during or after the meeting to influence the voting on any such question.”
The Honourable Justice Eberhard determined that the councillor had spoken with two other members of Council about a matter in which she intended to, and did, declare a conflict of interest. However, she was not found to have breached the Act, as the pecuniary interest she had in the matter was “in common with the electors generally” pursuant to section 4(j) of the Act, which is an exemption from section 5.
In this case, the councillor owned a home in a condominium community where each homeowner paid an identical amount for their water, regardless of usage. The matter at Council for which she declared a conflict was related to a hook up of water to the condominium which had the potential of increasing fees to the 1400+ residences. Any increase in fees would affect all homeowners the same.
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