With the new president of the AbbotsfordFirst slate working for a major local developer, Coun. Sandy Blue says she and her colleagues will deal with any possible conflict of interest as it arises, but that none are foreseen anytime soon.
Last year, Markus Delves, an accountant of Quantum Properties, was chosen to be president of the AbbotsfordFirst slate. Quantum is the builder behind the Mahogany at Mill Lake, a 26-storey tower that is under construction and will become the tallest building in Abbotsford when complete.
Blue said neither she nor Couns. Ross Siemens, Kelly Chahal nor Brenda Falk are aware of any other Quantum projects coming before council soon. If they do arise, it would be up to each councillor to decide if they have an “apprehension of bias,” meaning they have a personal connection that could lead another person to conclude a councillor cannot properly judge a case on its merits. AbbotsfordFirst’s own conflict-of-interest guidelines also require councillors and directors to avoid perceived conflicts.
Blue noted that AbbotsfordFirst councillors do not take direction from their slate and are expected to judge cases independently. Members of the slate have voted against one another since first being elected in 2014.
At the present moment, having all four AbbotsfordFirst members bow out of a conversation would still leave council with the quorum necessary to make a decision. If a situation were to arise where AbbotsfordFirst had a majority, it could fall to the city to seek a court opinion on whether a judge felt the councillors were not in a conflict of interest.
The city has gone that route before, with a judge ruling that six councillors who declared an apprehension of bias could weigh in on a matter.