Village of Ryley Councillor Disqualified Following Court Ruling

Village of Ryley Councillor Disqualified Following Court Ruling

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

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It took a court ruling before Nikita Lee was forced to legally step down from his position as a councillor in the Village of Ryley.

The Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta heard the case of the Village versus Mr. Lee on November 20, 2020, and issued its official ruling on February 19, 2021.

In that ruling, the Honourable Madam Justice S. Leonard, stated, “This is an application by the Village of Ryley for an order declaring that Nikita Lee, an elected Councillor for the Village, is disqualified from serving as a Councillor and that his position is therefore vacant.

The Village’s position is that following his election, Mr. Lee became disqualified from remaining on the Council due to his failure to pay the Village taxes and utilities. The Village claims that the failure to pay taxes made him ineligible for nomination as a candidate under Section 22 of the Local Authorities Election Act, RSA 2000, cL-21 (the LAEA).”

Mr. Lee had argued the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter because the Village’s application was not made within the nomination period and the LAEA only required him to remain eligible on nomination day.

While Lee was current on his taxes at the time of his nomination in September of 2017, he fell into arrears following the municipal election on October 16, 2017. Both parties did not dispute the fact that he did not pay any taxes and utilities between September 16, 2017 and November 18, 2019.

Glen Hamilton-Brown, Chief Administrative Officer for the Village of Ryley said that during a review of taxes in the fall of 2019 he discovered Lee had an overdue tax bill. That bill was just over $3,000.

He questioned staff why this wasn’t brought up the previous year and they said they were under the belief that councillors only had to be current on their taxes at the time of nomination.

Read the full story in the March 3, 2021 edition of the News Advertiser - now online!