Sherwood councillor ousted by court over conflict of interest

Whether he’s found guilty in his criminal case or not, Tim Probe won’t be returning to his council seat in the R.M. of Sherwood.

Probe is charged with municipal corruption and breach of trust. There was a vote to ask some councillors, including Probe, to pay back thousands in legal fees they were reimbursed for. Probe is accused of offering to trade votes with the reeve to end the motion on the legal fees.

The trial on those charges was held last month, but a verdict still hasn’t been reached.

Probe stepped away from his seat on the council while the charges made their way through the court. In March 2017 he released a statement saying he wouldn’t be resigning from council.

“Tim plans to return to his duly elected seat on the R.M. council, when he is vindicated,” read the statement.

In a separate case, the R.M. decided to take Probe to court over his seat. It successfully argued in front of a Court of Queen’s Bench judge that Probe put himself in a conflict of interest, and therefore should be disqualified from council.

According to court documents, though Probe had recused himself from votes and matters around his legal fees before, in January 2016 Probe did not declare a conflict and recuse himself when a presentation was made to council about the legal fees.

Although it’s not binding in court, the ombudsman found Probe also contravened the conflict of interest bylaws in The Municipalities Act.

The Court of Queen’s Bench justice found in favour of the R.M., disqualifying Probe from council, and declaring his seat vacant.