3 Moose Jaw city councillors disciplined after investigation

Three Moose Jaw city councillors have been disciplined after an investigation into a “serious personnel matter” within the board dealing with the city’s Mosaic Place and Yara Centre.

The third-party investigation found councillors Brian Swanson, Scott McMann and Crystal Froese violated the council’s code of ethics bylaw by failing to address this personnel matter at the Downtown Facilities and Fieldhouse (DFFH).

Mayor Fraser Tolmie, along with councillors Dawn Luhning and Chris Warren, voted unanimously to impose the sanctions against the three councillors.

“This has been a challenging time,” Tolmie said in a news release Monday evening. “But after performing due diligence on this matter with a third-party investigator we were obligated to take corrective action.”

The following are the sanctions each councillor faces:

Councillor Brian Swanson

• Will not receive direct access to confidential reports. Confidential reports of Executive Committee, Personnel Committee, Budget or any other Committee of City Council will be available for review in the City Clerk’s office for as long as the sanction is in effect.
• Will not hold the position of Deputy Mayor, Chair or Vice-Chair of any Standing Committee.
• Will not be allowed to sit on Third-Party Boards or Advisory Committees associated with the City of Moose Jaw.
• Sanctions are in effect to the end of Council term.

Councillor Scott McMann

• Will not hold the position of Deputy Mayor, Chair or Vice-Chair of any Standing Committees or Advisory Committees.
• Will not be allowed to sit on Third-Party Boards associated with the City of Moose Jaw.
• Sanctions are in effect until December 31, 2019.

Councillor Crystal Froese

• Will not hold the position of Deputy Mayor, Chair or Vice-Chair of any Standing Committees or Advisory Committees
• Sanctions are in effect until August 31, 2019.

“All sanctions are in accordance with the degree of involvement and responsibility each councillor carried in the matter,” Tolmie explained.

“We as Council have an obligation to all employees and residents to make the right decisions and follow policies that are in place to help us resolve any issue. In this case the DFFH board did not follow proper procedure, but we will work to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”