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(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Few city halls in BC have been as turbulent and chaotic in the past nine months as Kamloops, with blame frequently pointed at its mayor.

Faced with allegations of bullying staff, launching a defamation suit against a fellow councillor and risking legal action from a local non-profit, Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson has been the centre of attention since the October election.

At what point will it risk him his job?

In BC, there's a high bar to remove an elected official from office, but there is a way it's possible.

A minimum of ten eligible voters can petition the BC Supreme Court to have an elected official declared disqualified from office. The City itself can also do so, but it must have two-thirds of council's approval.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor launches defamation suit against councillor

Ten people in the Township of Langley tried to do just that when they claimed the mayor and three councillors violated conflict of interest rules related to 2018 campaign donations from developers. Their petition was dismissed in 2021.

A judge found the petitioners couldn't establish a direct link between campaign donations and ongoing development applications before the City.

"It's pretty hard to remove a mayor," former Kelowna City manager Ron Mattiussi said. "The courts in Canada have always had the view that a democratically elected person should be taken out by the people."

Whether Hamer-Jackson could even be disqualified from office over his actions in the past nine months would have to be determined in court, but the Community Charter also limits what violations are applicable.

They include conflicts of interest, unexcused absences from a certain number of council meetings, unauthorized expenses and failure to make an oath of office. An elected official would also be disqualified from office if they are convicted of a criminal offence, which was brought into BC law within the past year.

That still means a councillor or mayor can remain in their office if they are charged with a crime but haven't been convicted.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor and councillor's feud a family affair

Colin Basran, former mayor of Kelowna, would be allowed to serve if he won the October election, even though he was criminally charged with sexual assault later last year. He wouldn't have been the first either, with multiple BC councillors and mayors previously charged with crimes while in office.

Ejecting an elected official is rare, and Mattiussi said that's intentional.

"Although it's tightening up, the legislation, neither the province nor the courts want to be in a position where your political opponents could drive you out," he said. "Ultimately it's the people who should decide."

Hamer-Jackson, of course, isn't facing any criminal charges, but he was investigated for bullying and harassment claims, facing accusations from multiple staff members in recent months.

It's not clear what the results of that investigation were as City officials are tight-lipped about the affair, but council could resort to censuring Hamer-Jackson or commit to other sanctions and "corrective actions," according to the City's code of conduct bylaw.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor under investigation for harassing multiple city employees

A similar affair in Langley City unfolded last May when Mayor Val van den Broek was censured for bullying a staff member, according to Black Press. She remained in office until she lost the October 2022 election.

More recently, Mayor Colleen Jones was censured earlier this month by Trail council for breaching the code of conduct three times.

A third-party investigation found she "showed a lack of consideration for an employee" and engaged in conduct that "did not promote public confidence," according to a City of Trail news release.

Although that investigation was completed before the 2022 election, it wasn't until June 12 that council voted to censure Jones. They voted to issue a public statement about the censure, sent the mayor a letter of reprimand and ordered her to complete a course on governance.

There's no indication Kamloops council has considered a vote to censure Hamer-Jackson.

BC has recall legislation but only for MLAs. Municipalities rely on the courts to decide on disqualifications. Alberta introduced recall legislation in April 2022 and already one village used it just last month.

The Village of Ryley is the first in the province to do it, successfully getting more than 40 per cent of residents to sign a petition to remove a councillor, according to CBC News.

The Recall Act allows eligible voters to remove Alberta MLAs, municipal officials and school trustees through a petition within 18 months of an election. It does require, however, 40% of the population to sign. Ryley is a village of just 460 people and the petitioners collected 250 signatures, according to CBC News.

More than half the village decided councillor Nik Lee wasn't fit for office, but he had incidentally submitted his resignation to the province in March. He didn't notify the rest of council of his resignation, but in the end, the petition wasn't necessary.

In BC, a similar recall legislation exists, but it only applies to MLAs. Since 1995, six of 29 petitions have been sent to Elections BC for verification. Five were short on the required signatures and the MLA in question resigned before the sixth was verified, according to Elections BC.

It's not clear what's next for Kamloops city hall, but the turbulent week was just the latest in a series of conflicts since Hamer-Jackson took office last fall.

The City is waiting for councillor Kate Neustaeter to respond to Hamer-Jackson's defamation suit. The civil claim is directly related to a joint statement she read aloud while joined with seven councillors, calling out the mayor for bullying and breaching personal and professional boundaries.

She was backed by council in March while reading the joint statement, and she's backed by them again now after council voted to support the use of City funds in her legal defense.

Whether the mayor has breached legislation in his position as mayor or the City's code of conduct isn't clear, but it's obvious to Kamloops voters, Hamer-Jackson doesn't have allies among the eight councillors.

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