Cambridge mayor wants court review of LRT conflict of interest

More than two years after Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig first pulled out of the debate around Waterloo Region’s rapid transit system, he says he wants back in.

Craig has excused himself from any matters relating to LRT and bus rapid transit since April 2011 due to his son owning property near the Ainslie Street bus terminal, which is part of the rapid transit network.

In a press release issued Tuesday by the City of Cambridge, Craig said he will ask the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to review his case and the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act.

Craig’s lawyer, Douglas O’Toole, tells CTV that Craig wants to participate in the continued planning matters around the details of rapid transit if it is legally possible for him to do so.

“He is only one of three councillors on regional council that represents the interests of the City of Cambridge,” says O’Toole.

O’Toole cites a similar case from Toronto as potentially showing the way forward for Craig to speak his mind about LRT.

In 2000, a judge ruled that then-Toronto mayor Mel Lastman could speak about a controversial police union fundraising campaign without being in a conflict of interest even though his son’s law firm had been retained by the union.

“We’re asking that the court look at Mayor Craig’s deemed pecuniary interest and determine if the interest is so insignificant or so remote that a reasonable person would not believe that the interest would influence Mayor Craig,” says O’Toole.

Regional councillors voted last year to set up a fund to reimburse councillors for seeking legal opinions regarding conflicts of interest, but O’Toole says Craig has not accessed that fund in this case.

“To date, Mayor Craig’s retainer with myself is personal and no public taxpayer dollars have been expended,” he says.

Waterloo Region Chair Ken Seiling and North Dumfries Mayor Rob Deutschmann have also sat out of rapid transit discussions due to conflicts of interest.

In an email to CTV News, Seiling says he’s hopeful Craig’s case will provide “guidance” for other politicians in similar situations.