RCMP say restorative justice concludes beer-pouring incident against Kamloops mayor

“The matter came to a peaceful conclusion with a successful Restorative Justice Forum, conducted by the Kamloops RCMP Crime Prevention Unit Restorative Justice Volunteers,” Napier said.

“The suspect along with the victim and a police officer from the Kamloops RCMP General Investigate Support Team gathered to participate in the forum.”

According to the RCMP and the Government of Canada, restorative justice is “an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime.”

While police say they will not be commenting on the incident further, Hamer-Jackson said the session helped him understand his assailant’s motive.

“First thing I wanted to know is where the individual was dangerous,” Hamer-Jackson told CFJC. “I also wanted to know what his motive was. He didn’t know me. He learned of me through media reports. I’m not going to mention any media but I think its pretty obvious what type of media were biased against me.”

Speaking to CFJC Friday (Nov. 14), Hamer-Jackson was asked why he did not pursue further legal action against his assailant and opted to settle the matter out of court.

“When I found out he had no criminal record and that the person has a family – a young daughter and stuff like that – I felt no reason to waste the court’s time,” Hamer-Jackson said.

“My life is at risk sometimes due to biased media and I’m saying that up front. That’s one reason why I wanted to find out [about] the person. The last thing I’d want to do is for him to have an assault charge over his head over something.. you know he was out with friends and they had a few drinks and…he made an error in judgement.”

Second legal ‘win’ of the week

This week, the Mayor also closed the book on a long standing saga involving the Integrity Group work completed by investigator Terry Honcharuk. It was commissioned in 2023 after several staff members filed complaints about Hamer-Jackson’s behaviour in the workplace.

While city council received the report in a closed meeting, a court filing from Attorney General Niki Sharma’s office said Hamer-Jackson was not provided with a copy because his “behaviour forms the subject of the report.”

However in 2024, Hamer-Jackson said a copy of the report had been mailed to him, and he subsequently distributed copies to several members of the media, including CFJC Today.

On Monday (Nov. 10) this week, Hamer-Jackson agreed to hand over his copy of the report to the Attorney General, who had sued the mayor demanding that copies of the report be turned over “to make sure privacy laws are upheld.”

“They forgot to talk all about the leak in 2023. They talked all about the document I got in the mail in 2024 and they forgot about when my privacy was breached,” Hamer-Jackson added. “They never did an investigation on my privacy being breached.”

Hamer-Jackson, who was representing himself on the matter, was also told to give the attorney general a list of all the people he provided a copy of the report to.

While the government was also seeking costs, lawyers chose not to pursue the matter in court on Monday.

The mayor must also give the attorney general a complete list of people to whom he provided copies of the report.

While Sharma’s office confirmed to CFJC Today this week that the matter has concluded, Hamer-Jackson said he remains focused on trying to identify the original leaker.

– With files from Michael Reeve/CFJC Today

by Victor Kaisar

RCMP say restorative justice concludes beer-pouring incident against Kamloops mayor

Second legal ‘win’ of the week

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