FILE PHOTO - Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson (right) and Kamloops councillor Katie Neustaeter (left) at a March 28, 2023, council meeting.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A long-delayed hearing to test the Kamloops mayor’s defamation lawsuit against a city councillor started Monday as a judge considers whether to toss the matter out entirely.

In the lawsuit, which was filed more than a year ago, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson claims Coun. Katie Neustaeter defamed him while she was reading a joint council statement at a news conference.

At the core of the case, Hamer-Jackson claims suggestions he breached “personal and professional boundaries” in the joint statement damaged his reputation and falsely suggested he had sexually harassed people at city hall.

Though such a claim was never explicitly made — and Neustaeter has since said that was not the intended meaning — it's key to Hamer-Jackson’s defamation lawsuit.

The hearing started, Sept. 22, with Neustaeter’s lawyer Daniel Reid laying out a lengthy back story related to Hamer-Jackson’s attempts to meet with his client's father, former MLA Kevin Krueger, who is currently in a long-term care home with dementia.

He will argue Neustaeter was within her rights to criticize the mayor and the defamation lawsuit is an attempt to silence her.

Neustaeter's lawyer gave evidence Monday about the first months on council following the 2022 municipal election during which the mayor had attempted to meet with Krueger to discuss city business after agreeing with Neustaeter not to meet with him.

Krueger, who the court heard was dealing with dementia-like symptoms at that time, had initiated contact with Hamer-Jackson. He later told iNFOnews.ca he had backed out of any efforts to meet with the Hamer-Jackson.

Neustaeter argues the relation to her and “personal boundaries” is connected to Hamer-Jackson’s repeated efforts to bring her family into city business.

Hamer-Jackson’s lawyer Jody Wells will make her arguments later this week before the judge will decide whether the case has any merit at all. If Neustaeter is successful, the case could be dismissed entirely.

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