Abby Besharah is serving her first term on town council. (Facebook/Abby Besharah)

By Derek Cornet

investigation

Commissioner finds La Ronge councillor violated code of conduct

Oct 12, 2021 | 12:47 PM

A special meeting of council will be held tonight to discuss a code of conduct investigation into one of their own.

A complaint was filed against Coun. Abby Besharah after a July 22 meeting in which she attended in her capacity as a private citizen. It occurred at the town office between herself and an municipal employee, whose name is redacted from the complaint report.

The report states the discussion became heated and portions were overheard by other town staff, as well as chief administrative officer Steven Brown.

“I’m trying to open a small café in La Ronge,” Besharah wrote in an email to larongeNOW. “I went into the town office to pick up my discretionary use permit sign and then ended up having a technical discussion with a former co-worker about delays and interpretation of bylaw. As per the report, the person I interacted with understood I was there in my capacity as a business owner, not a councillor, and as that person says, I got frustrated.”

The report found multiple town employees were troubled by what happened that day. One employee told the commissioner the incident didn’t leave her with a good feeling, while another said, “Ms. Besharah has frequently conducted herself in an inappropriate manner in the office and there has never been anything done about her actions.”

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The commissioner determined Besharah’s conduct to be inappropriate and in contravention of the code of conduct. Besharah has acknowledged her interaction was disrespectful and an apology letter has been sent. She has also appointed a proxy to deal with municipal staff in relation to her business.

In closing, the commissioner doesn’t recommend any further remedial action other than what Besharah has already done voluntarily. Council will meet tonight to discuss whether or not she should face additional sanctions.

“That’s not up to me to decide or comment on,” Besharah said about the placement of sanctions. “All I will say is that council took a courageous step and voted to send this matter off to an independent ethics commissioner to review all the available evidence. They then weighed the account of my behaviour against our code of ethics and provided a recommendation. That entrusted person deemed that the course of action I took (apologizing, earnestly and promptly) was, in their professional opinion, appropriate remediation.”

Besharah believes her conduct that day could have an outcome that affects the confidence residents have in their elected officials. She said that’s why she apologized immediately and was supportive of the matter being taken to the commissioner.

“Now that everyone can read the full report online, they can make up their own minds,” Besharah said. “Transparency is key and I’m glad this high standard has now been set for all councillors going forward. Poor behaviour by councillors should be called out.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno