Land sale in small village wasn't done right, ombudsman says

Saskatchewan's ombudsman says municipalities can learn a lesson about conflict of interest and how to avoid controversy from her report on a 2015 land sale in the community of Manor.

Manor is a village of around 300 people about 210 kilometres southeast of Regina.

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In 2015, council members were pondering what to do with a piece of property that had been used as a campground and rest stop for visitors for several years. The space needed maintenance and had caught the disapproving attention of public health inspectors.

According to the ombudsman's report, the village decided to sell the property to the son of the mayor at the time.

The report noted the mayor excused herself from some portions of the discussions and deliberations on the sale, but did participate and vote at other times.

"It is clear the mayor should not have had any involvement in any part of discussions, deliberations [and] decisions about the sale of village land to her son from the beginning to the end of the process," Mary McFadyen, the ombudsman, said in her report.

Sale is a done deal, ombudsman says

The sale of the property, for $10,000, upset some locals who complained that there should have been more public notice and also identified concerns about the role the mayor played in the transaction.

McFadyen's report said the sale of a park space needs to be advertised and the village failed to follow that rule. However, the transaction was done by the time she launched her investigation.

"Even though we found that the council did not follow statutory requirements or its own bylaw, the village transferred the land to the mayor's son before our investigation started," McFadyen said. "We are not a court. We cannot order the land to be returned or sold back to the village. We cannot make any recommendation that would return things to the way they were in 2015."

McFadyen also said thateven though the mayor had a conflict, she is no longer on the village council and no recommendations are necessary.

A lesson for others

While the report did not include any names, McFadyen said it would be worthwhile for other elected officials to know about the case.

"We hope by making this report public, we will provide the Village of Manor's council members, and the council members of other municipalities with a better understanding of what a conflict of interest is and the importance of making sure they follow the requirements of the law when making decisions," she said.

The current mayor, Donald Dionne, said Friday that Manor is a small community and everyone knows each other.

Dionne said the ombudsman's findings were consistent with what he anticipated from the investigation.

"The results were given out as the ombudsman gave them and that's kind of what I expected would happen," he said. "I came to the same, basically, agreement as what the ombudsman did."

Dionne added that current council members have followed new guidelines relating to identifying and avoiding conflicts of interest.

"It's a conflict of interest form that we filled out," he explained. "It's just to clarify what we understand [to] make sure that we don't possibly get into a situation that has happened in the past."