On Thursday, a Superior Court judge rendered a decision in the conflict of interest case against Elliot Lake Councillor Ed Pearce.
The suit was filed by the City of Elliot Lake's Integrity Commissioner at the time E4M Inc. alleging a breach in the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.
The cases surrounded Councillor Pearce’s participation in two votes involving ELNOS, a non-profit community organization in the spring and summer of 2019.
Pearce sits on the ELNOS board as an independent member, not an appointee from Elliot Lake City Council.
The judge found the councillor in breach of two sections of the Conflict of Interest Act, but that a reprimand by the court was deemed adequate punishment (given that the punishment should be proportionate to the act committed).
Under the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and the Integrity Commissioner (IC) regime established by the Province, the IC is an independent officer of Council and has the authority to commence court cases against sitting councilors in their sole discretion.
The IC chose to pursue the court case against Councilor Pearce and the court hearing was held in early December 2020.
Councilor Pearce issued a statement following the City of Elliot Lake announcement of the court ruling.
"After a period of over two years and tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, a judgment in my case has finally been rendered by Justice Gareau of the Superior Court," Pearce said.
"Although the Justice (Gareau) found that I was in breach of section 5(1) and (2) of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, he also found that the actions I took were in good faith and I did not gain anything from them either monetarily or otherwise. In his words, 'I agree…that this would be at the absolute lowest level.' He further states, 'In my view the finding that the respondent was in breach of section 5(1) and (2) of the Municipal conflict of Interest act and a reprimand by the court for that breach is adequate punishment that meets the ends of justice on the facts in this case.'”
"As I have said, it has been a long and trying two years that need not have happened. This has put an incredible strain on me and my family and I just want to put it behind me. There is still a lot of work that Council has to do and we need to concentrate on that, not chasing after inconsequential or non existent claims against political opponents," Pearce also said.
Pearce declined to discuss what legal expenses he has incurred while defending himself in court.
Elliot Lake Mayor Dan Marchisella issued a brief statement after learning of the Superior Court ruling on the Integrity Commissioner charges.
"I believe that council may officially receive the report at our next council meeting to put this one to rest. I would like to express my support for the judgment in this case and agree with statements made by the judge," Marchisella said.
"A case like this shows us that there are issues with the Conflict of Interest Act in respect to its intent, which to my understanding is a personal pecuniary interest," he added.
"Being a board member of a not-for-profit doesn’t seem to have any personal financial gain. I congratulate Councillor Pearce and hope he can now move on from this extremely stressful period and carry on with our city business.”
Still to come, a court decision regarding charges against Councillor Chris Patrie following E4M's Integrity Commissioner investigation into complaints against him