ARICHAT: Richmond County’s former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Warren Olsen confirmed October 31 would be his last day in the position he held for six years and two months.
The resignation announcement came two days after the municipality’s official Web site posted the findings of a forensic audit conducted by the legal firm Boyne Clarke with assistance from the county’s municipal auditors, Grant Thornton, regarding expenses incurred on credit cards issued to municipal councillors and Olsen between April 1, 2011 and March 30, 2016.
Olsen confirmed he discussed his potential departure with his family in September, adding that “mixed emotions” accompanied his decision to step down.
Olsen was personally flagged for submitting a combined $31,233 in out-of-county travel claims for trips that the audit’s investigators expected to be covered by the municipality’s in-county travel allowance, with multiple trips by Olsen between Arichat and Port Hawkesbury cited as an example of this situation.
ANTIGONISH: Antigonish District RCMP responded to a call of a single vehicle leaving the road, rolling, and striking a light pole on Highway 4 in Afton Station. The driver and only occupant of the vehicle, identified only as a 30-year-old woman from Antigonish, passed away at the scene.
Police did not release the name of the victim but the next day, media outlets reported the name of the deceased as Robin Jane Marie Landry of Afton. A funeral announcement for Landry stated she passed away as result of a motor vehicle collision on October 26. Landry was the sister of Nicholas Landry, who was one of two victims of a vehicle collision on Highway 4 in Tracadie on November 25, 2011.
ANTIGONISH: On November 4, Antigonish Provincial Court Judge Laurie Halfpenny-MacQuarrie found William Roger MacLellan guilty on a charge of sexual assault. Sentencing is set for January 16 in Antigonish Provincial Court.
The judge heard final arguments on the case on August 30 in Truro Provincial Court. The defense called its final witness in the trial in Truro Provincial Court on June 29. Both the crown and defense also entered an agreed-upon statement of facts in regards to a surveillance video offered as evidence in the trial.
LOWER L’ARDOISE: Cape Breton-Richmond MLA Michel Samson defended his party’s riding association, as Elections Nova Scotia launched an investigation into the municipal reimbursement of admission fees for a Liberal fundraising dinner involving Samson and Premier Stephen McNeil in mid-2014.
Prior to the event at St. Louis Parish Hall in Louisdale, Richmond County’s warden at the time, Steve Sampson, sent an e-mail to the municipality’s other nine councillors in an effort to gauge support for a proposal to have the municipality reimburse councillors who submitted proof of purchase for the $50 ticket price to attend the event.
According to the e-mail, which was forwarded by an anonymous source to provincial PC Leader Jamie Baillie in late October, Sampson noted that three councillors had approached him to consider purchasing a table for the event, in the same manner as local businesses and other organizations. While Sampson’s e-mail notes that “as a municipal unit we cannot contribute to a political party as election rules indicate,” it also stated that he was prepared to support the reimbursement if council provided unanimous consent.
PORT HAWKESBURY: Karl Risser, inspector with the International Transport Workers Federation (ITWF), arrived in mid-November hoping to wrap up payment and security issues for four of the five sailors who spent three months working on, and living in, the Dutch Runner, docked at the Port Hawkesbury Pier.
The five crew members left the boat on November 7 and filed an official complaint with Transport Canada, nearly three months after they were taken to Port Hawkesbury with the intent of preparing the cargo ship to be transferred from its current Canadian ownership to the flag of Panama.
ANTIGONISH: On November 9, Dion Roderick O’Hara was sentenced to 322 days in prison for his role in an incident in Afton last year.
O’Hara appeared in Antigonish Provincial Court for sentencing on charges of aggravated assault, breaching a court order and failing to comply with a recognizance or undertaking. Along with the prison time, he received two years of probation, a DNA order, a firearm prohibition, and victim surcharges fines totaling $400.
O’Hara was originally charged with aggravated assault and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, as well as a number of court order breaches. The matter was set for a Supreme Court trial but, during an appearance in Antigonish on September 21, O’Hara re-elected provincial court and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a breach of a court order, with the weapon change dismissed. On November 9, he also pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a recognizance or undertaking.
The charges stem from an incident on May 2, 2015.
HALIFAX: Dave Hutt, the lawyer representing three of the four people implicated in a defamation lawsuit launched by former Richmond County Warden Steve Sampson cited the right of his clients to hold elected officials to account, shortly after filing their defense in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. Hutt spoke in mid-November after filing a statement of defense on behalf of Richmond County’s former director of tourism and economic development, Jeff Stanley, as well as Stanley’s sister-in-law Ellen Polegato and his father-in-law Geno Polegato.
The trio, along with recently re-elected Richmond municipal councillor Gilbert Boucher, allegedly used anonymous Facebook accounts to post false and defamatory comments about Sampson under the names “Jake Sampson” and “Jim Davis” on the Facebook group ‘Taxpayers of Richmond County NS.”
PORT HAWKESBURY: Deputy Mayor Trevor Boudreau confirmed he will request a review of the fee structure implemented in Port Hawkesbury’s new municipal Vending By-Law.
During the regular town council meeting in early October, Boudreau was the only councillor to vote against the new by-law, which includes a charge of $2,000 for a one-year permit for mobile canteen owners, who would also pay $1,500 for a six-month permit or $300 for an “occasional permit” lasting fewer than 10 days.
The deputy mayor revealed his intentions during the November 22 meeting of Port Hawkesbury Town Council’s Committee-of-the-Whole, which also saw council agree in principle to allow first reading for a formal repeal of the town’s previous Licenses and Permits By-Law. That legislation carried a universal $300 operational permit for mobile vendors seeking to set up shop within the town limits on a temporary basis.
ARICHAT: Richmond County Warden Brian Marchand confirmed council would discuss the concept of seeking the repayment of funds charged to the municipality by those implicated in a recent forensic audit of expense claims filed between April 1, 2011 and March 30, 2016, as well as an examination by Nova Scotia’s Office of the Ombudsman of expense claims filed between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014.
On November 24, Marchand confirmed that he would speak to his four fellow councillors about the proper course of action once the Nova Scotia RCMP has wrapped up its investigation of Richmond County’s financial issues.
