File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: By launching an investigation into the mayor’s secret phone recordings, Kamloops council is doing its job

Sep 29, 2023 | 10:34 AM

IT HAS BEEN ANOTHER remarkable week at Kamloops city hall.

In a closed meeting, council launched an investigation into Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson’s propensity to secretly record phone conversations with staff.

It came after Hamer-Jackson’s admission earlier this month that his wife recorded a call between him and CAO David Trawin without Trawin knowing, as the mayor tried to read a transcript into the official record of a council meeting.

For some, this will seem to be another instance of the eight councillors ganging up to make life miserable for the mayor.

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That may be the optics, but it’s not the reality.

City council is like the board of directors that oversees the corporation of the City of Kamloops.

They have a fiduciary responsibility to protect that corporation from legal threats.

As we know, one individual recording a telephone conversation without the other party’s knowledge is legal according to the Criminal Code of Canada. It’s not a crime.

But there are plenty of behaviours that are not crimes that still put the corporation at legal risk.

An employee could feel they are not being properly protected by the workplace policies and protocols put in place by their board of directors.

They could decide to sue the corporation, and might have a good case.

In addition to tightening up the city’s policies around recorded phone calls, council’s motion compels Hamer-Jackson to turn over any recordings, transcripts or notes from his conversations with city staff.

Speaking to the mayor this week, he says he’s not concerned about that at all, as he believes that material is all subject to Freedom of Information rules anyway.

There’s a difference, though, in the expectations a staff member might have between an oral conversation — whether in person or over the phone — and written correspondence — whether via text, email or printed page.

What does the person on the other end of the conversation expect? Certainly, few would expect phone conversations to be recorded, transcribed and thrown back in their faces months later.

This week’s move is not council bullying the mayor — it’s council doing its job. And that’s what we’ve all been hoping for, right?

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.