Well known Indo-Canadian Mission city Councillor Ken Herar’s petition to the Supreme Court of BC to clear his name and set aside a censure from 2023 has been heard by a judge earlier in February. After lawyers for Herar and the city made submissions during a four-day judicial review at Abbotsford Law Courts beginning on Feb. 3, the judge said a decision could take a while as the case is more complicated than another decision he is still working on from seven months ago. Herar, a well respected and much loved Mission councilor, who is known for his community work including Cycling4Diversity and many other initiatives, was subjected to an expensive Code of Conduct investigation led by City’s Mayor Paul Horn over alleged misconduct but Herar has said he did nothing wrong and the matter could have been resolved amicably by all parties concerned. “The mayor over fabricated the complaint to initiate the process, skipping the informal process to avoid speaking with me to clarify the situation,” Herar told DESIBUZZCanada. “In doing so he knew he had councils support to proceed with sanctions and to go public.”

By R. Paul Dhillon – Editor DESIBUZZCanada

MISSION – Well known Indo-Canadian Mission city Councillor Ken Herar’s petition to the Supreme Court of BC to clear his name and set aside a censure from 2023 has been heard by a judge earlier in February. 

After lawyers for Herar and the city made submissions during a four-day judicial review at Abbotsford Law Courts beginning on Feb. 3, the judge said a decision could take a while as the case is more complicated than another decision he is still working on from seven months ago.

Herar, a well respected and much loved Mission councilor, who is known for his community work including Cycling4Diversity and many other initiatives, was subjected to an expensive Code of Conduct investigation led by City’s Mayor Paul Horn over alleged misconduct but Herar has said he did nothing wrong and the matter could have been resolved amicably by all parties concerned. 

“The mayor over fabricated the complaint to initiate the process, skipping the informal process to avoid speaking with me to clarify the situation,” Herar told DESIBUZZCanada. “In doing so he knew he had councils support to proceed with sanctions and to go public.”

Herar said instead Horn weaponized the charges in an attempt to smear his reputation which has been built over decades with hard work and commitment to what Herar holds dear – the community. 

“This was a political hit job to smear my name politically,” Herar told DESIBUZZCanada. “My wife and I had a genuine and sincere spirit of intent and we did nothing wrong eventually when the smoke cleared. This could have easily been resolved through a conversation. Instead, the Code of Conduct was weaponized against me, which we see happening in many municipalities to demonize opponents.” 

Herar, who filed a lawsuit against the Mayor and the City, said he feels race is a factor in this ongoing campaign against him which has cost the city tens of thousands of dollars in hiring an investigator and now legal expenses which is a waste of City resources. 

Herar, who filed a petition to the Supreme Court of B.C. on Dec. 22, 2023 to have the censure set aside, seeks several orders from the court, including that council breached the rules of procedural fairness and the principles of natural justice. It also seeks a declaration that the Nov. 1 council hearing breached the Community Charter, along with a court order that the April 17 complaint be dismissed. 

Herar seeks special costs for bringing the petition before the court, in addition to the proceedings before the council. 

The city filed a response to the petition in January 2024 after a council vote to release information from in-camera meetings.  The city denies Herar’s allegations in their entirety and opposes the granting of the orders set out by the petition, per the response. 

The code of conduct complaint that led to the censure was filed by Mission Mayor Paul Horn in April 2023 following a pair of incidents in March, which seem to be blown out of context and which could have been dealt informally by the City and the Mayor. 

According to Herar’s lawyer, Devin Klassen, Horn made an informal complaint to City of Mission chief administrative officer Mike Younie before filing a formal complaint to Younie that was also sent to 

Instead, the City and Mayor voted to have independent investigator Leanne Walsh to investigate Herar, something Herar’s lawyer Devin Klassen said it was impossible that Walsh wasn’t contacted before the complaint was made, and noted procedure requires complaints to be made prior to selecting an investigator. 

The City lawyer’s said Walsh was appointed the investigator for any complaints for 2023 in April of that year. 

Klassen told the judge the city breached procedural fairness by allowing Horn to be the complainant despite not witnessing the events and presiding over a council meeting to proceed with the complaint. 

Walsh completed the investigation over approximately five months, interviewing the Herars, Horn and other witnesses. 

An agreement to resolve the complaint was signed by Horn and Herar in August, but council voted against approving the agreement at an Aug. 21 closed meeting. 

Klassen said Walsh told Herar it would be in his best interest to sign the agreement if he sought other political offices. Klassen told the judge it implies bias, coercion or undue influence. 

“I do see race as an issue because if it was a Caucasian councilor, this would have never happened,” Herar told DESIBUZZCanada last year.

Klassen said councillors made comments during the Aug. 21 meeting that would suggest bias and prior knowledge of the complaint. 

The city lawyer said there is no merit to the allegations of bias and that unlike a judge or human rights tribunal, it’s expected that municipal councillors would have preconceived notions. 

Klassen told the judge the lack of opportunity to question the investigator at the meeting or seek clarity on the report amounts to procedural unfairness. 

“The petitioner wrote letters in October [2023] saying, wait, we haven’t been able to verify these witness accounts according to the investigator – what are you doing? We need a shot at this. Is that all the trappings of a trial? I very much don’t think that that is the case,” Klassen said. 

The court heard Herar’s email exchange with Younie asking him if the city gets permission before they post their photos. His response, “sometimes”.

“In our situation, we had permission from everyone and I feel this is a complete double standard,” Herar said. “This situation presents neither a winner nor a loser, a simple conversation could have resolved the time and energy wasted on this attempted smear campaign,” Herar told DESIBUZZCanada. “We tried to resolve this to avoid court, but if the mayor and council have an agenda against me, it makes it very difficult to reach an agreement.

“People have approached me over the course of the past year and have commented on how such a small issue became a concern.

Herar said in the judicial review, mayor and council biases were revealed. The city lawyer dismissed the comments, claiming they had no significant impact on the outcome.

“I found this to be very disturbing and procedurally unfair, as I expected a fair hearing among my elected peers. For me, what I heard was very disheartening, and it has affected me emotionally,” Herar said.

“In both incidents, my wife and I acted with the utmost sincerity, trusting the staff to guide us in accordance with city protocols.

“What we knew and discovered throughout the process is the code of conduct was manipulated, being loosely worded, and needs to be reviewed by the province so other councillors are not victimized and protection measures are needed to be in place.”

Herar said all this has done is create more resentment towards the city council, and we could’ve spent the time, energy, and money towards things that really matter for our community.

“I reminded myself after the hearing that I still have a job to complete, which is serving and listening to the community. I will continue to do my best for the remainder of my elected term,” Herar said.

With News Files