Judge orders that Elliot Lake mayor should be removed from office

A court has ruled that the recently elected mayor of Elliot Lake should be removed from office.

This decision comes three years after conflict of interest complaints against Chris Patrie were first referred to the court by the integrity commissioner of the small northern Ontario city. 

It's alleged that between 2017 and 2019, Patrie tried to convince his fellow city councillors to build planned recreation complex on a site near to a store he owns in a commercial plaza owned by a corporation where he is a director.

While awaiting the court's decision, Patrie was elected as Elliot Lake's mayor in October.

The ruling, which also calls for Patrie to be banned from holding public office for two years, was released just hours before Monday night's council meeting, which was instead chaired by city councillor Andrew Wannan. 

"Based on the ruling, Mayor Patrie will not be attending tonight. He sends his regrets and wishes to inform you all that he will be applying tomorrow for a stay of proceedings and will be filing an appeal," Wannan said at the start of the meeting.

"It is our duty as your elected council to continue with tonight's meeting, despite the setback. We give Mayor Patrie and his wife Kelly and family our full support through this process." 

Elliot Lake city staff told CBC Monday evening that they were still "absorbing" the ruling and were going to consult with a lawyer before deciding what to do next.

In her decision, Justice Annalisa Rasaiah wrote that she does not make the ruling "lightly" and understands the political "ramifications."

She summarized that the integrity commissioner found that Patrie was determined to see a proposed $30 million recreational complex built near the Oakland Plaza, which he has a financial interest in, and not on the former site of the Algo Centre Mall in downtown Elliot Lake. 

The court heard that included threatening another member of council with an ethics complaint, lobbying the mayor and specific members of the public, pressuring city staff to write reports favourable to his preferred location and threatening investigators with legal action once he discovered he was being investigated. 

Justice Rasaiah wrote in her decision that the integrity commissioner believes that Patrie "specializes in the 'non-denial denial' and is not credible."

"Patrie chooses not to deny most of the allegations... [he] obfuscates, pontificates, and evades specific questions by disputing irrelevant details, raising justifications that do not amount to legal defences and/or refers to events out of chronological order— all in the apparent hope that the issues will be sufficiently confused so that it will seem like there is an explanation for each of his actions."

Patrie and his lawyers argued that the integrity commissioner is acting outside of its jurisdiction and has no evidence that he violated the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.