Court date set for Dec. 13 as councillors take legal action against Regina city manager
Court date set for Dec. 13 as councillors take legal action against Regina city manager
Regina City Hall can be seen in this CTV file photo.
Regina city councillor Dan LeBlanc showed up to the Court at King’s Bench Tuesday morning to set a date to make his case against the city’s manager.
LeBlanc, along with Coun. Andrew Stevens and local advocate Florence Stratton, filed a court application against city manager Niki Anderson for not including full operational funding to end homelessness in the proposed budget for 2023.
Upon learning that there would be no judges available for court sittings next week, LeBlanc asked to be moved to the foot of the list in the preliminary civil court chambers, so he could confer with the opposition for an appropriate date.
LeBlanc originally told reporters outside the court he was hoping to get a date for the legal proceedings set for late this week, as being pushed to the week of the 12th would not give a judge much time, since budget deliberations begin Dec. 14.
At 2 p.m. Justice Krogan heard a telephone agreement by both parties to adjourn to the week of Dec. 12.
LeBlanc did however ask that if possible, they would have their appearance in special chambers for Dec. 12 or 13.
Krogan had to adjourn the hearing for regular chambers on Dec. 13, since no judge was available earlier.
Affidavits and any written arguments are to be submitted by Wednesday, Dec. 7th for both parties, and any replies by Dec. 9th.
As the acting lawyer in the proceedings, LeBlanc said this case is first and foremost a defence of democracy.
“The main reason is council gave direction on what staff were meant to do, staff expressly refused to include that money in the budget, I think that’s bad for democracy and we need to stand up for that,” Leblanc said Tuesday morning outside the Court of King’s Bench.
“The second, more practical reason is simply, money that is in a draft budget is more likely to stay there than money that’s not.”
LeBlanc said he is passionate about the homelessness issue in Regina, and believes his fellow councillors are as well.
He said that is why they all voted in favour of putting the money in the draft budget back in June.
Last week, Mayor Masters spoke on that vote, saying that she, and many of the councillors interpreted the vote as approval of looking for the numbers to be included in the budget book, which she said they are, and debating the budget.
The mayor added that she believed legal action to be unnecessary saying, “If you’re asking me as the head of council, it would be clearly a court application and a matter of court. If you’re asking me personally, I think it’s disgusting.”
Regarding the mayor’s response, LeBlanc said he was taken aback.
“I was surprised by it, frankly, it’s actually quite a narrow technical originating application in court, it’s about the office of city management rather than the individual who holds that office.”
“So I was surprised by the almost moral revision at the idea that we would go to court to try and get folks in houses. It is surprising to me to see people more upset about a lawsuit than about our neighbours freezing to death on the street,” he added.
On Nov. 24, the City of Regina said it would not comment further on the matter while it is before the courts.
President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he ordered U.S. officials to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon earlier this week and that national security leaders decided the best time for the operation was when it got over water.
Canadians will continue to bundle up in the country's east this weekend as a recent bout of extreme cold persists in much of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. CTVNews.ca looks at the signs and symptoms for frostbite and hypothermia to watch for if exposed to extreme cold.
A cold snap that triggered Environment Canada alerts involving eight provinces and territories extended into a second day on Saturday, shattering several past temperature records and leaving thousands of customers in Atlantic Canada without power.
The massive white orb drifting across U.S. airspace has triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and is blowing up on social media. A look at what's known about the balloon crossing the U.S. and what isn't.
Eyes were locked on the skies Saturday as a suspected Chinese spy balloon passed over the U.S. Eastern Seaboard -- where local authorities warned civilians against taking potshots with rifles -- before it was shot down when it drifted over the Atlantic Ocean.
The oldest preserved vertebrate brain has been found in a 319-million-year-old fossilized fish skull that was removed from an English coal mine over a century ago.
WINNIPEG -- An Indigenous organization is spearheading efforts to develop a system that could make it easier to flag when a person experiencing homelessness is missing.
Winnipeg police released a new image of a 31-year-old woman who has been missing since early last year on Friday in the hope it may generate new information on her whereabouts.
Alberta's high court is being asked to overturn a review board decision relating to the stabbing deaths of five young people at a Calgary house party on the grounds the former provincial justice minister interfered.
A spokesperson for the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) says Metrolinx began cutting down historic trees at Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Saturday before the Ontario Superior Court could hear an injunction to prevent their clearing.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says more than a dozen groups have filed applications to buy the Ottawa Senators, with a preliminary cut of the potential bidders expected later this month when the initial bids are submitted.
Vancouver police say the man recorded hurling profanity and homophobic slurs at a young couple outside a downtown SkyTrain station last weekend has turned himself in.
President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he ordered U.S. officials to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon earlier this week and that national security leaders decided the best time for the operation was when it got over water.
Residents from Quebec to Newfoundland and Labrador are waking up this morning to more extreme cold weather. Emergency officials warned people to seek shelter and monitor for frostbite if they had to be outside overnight, as the temperature across much of Eastern Canada was expected to feel like -40 C to -50 C with the wind chill.
Another property reportedly belonging to a family member of Tony Accurso was the target of an arson attack in Laval early Saturday morning. The Laval fire department responded to a call at 3:22 a.m. about a fire at the building located at 1410 Jaffa Street in the Saint Rose district in the northern part of Laval.
A Quebec university study found that nearly three years of the pandemic have had an effect on the travel habits of Quebecers: even with the partial or complete lifting of restrictions, they increasingly prefer to travel at home. The most recent Cahier des tendances published by the Transat Chair in Tourism at the École des sciences de la gestion de l'UQAM revealed that inflation and health measures hurt many Quebecers.
President Joe Biden said on Saturday that he ordered U.S. officials to shoot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon earlier this week and that national security leaders decided the best time for the operation was when it got over water.
The first North Atlantic right whale to be entangled in connection to Canada’s lobster fishery in over five years has been successfully rescued by marine mammal rescue responders in the United States.
An investigation that lasted almost two years has resulted in moose hunting violation convictions for six people and a lodge in Red Lake in northwestern Ontario.
Convicted murderer Daniel Jolivet, in prison for the past 30 years, has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested. W5 reviews the evidence he painstakingly assembled while behind bars. W5's documentary 'Buried Evidence' airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
The owner of Radical Gardens, a restaurant in Timmins said she's experienced nineteen robberies over the last eight years; with the most recent one taking place in the early morning hours Friday.
Regina City Hall can be seen in this CTV file photo.
