Harassment complaint by former fire chief cost CBRM $30,000 in legal bills

Cape Breton Regional Municipality could have saved $30,000 if it had used an informal resolution process instead of lawyers, after the fire chief lodgeda harassment complaint in 2022, Coun. Steve Parsons says.

Michael Seth, who is Indigenous,launched the complaint over comments made in an email thread in which some councillors insisted on celebrating Canada Day, despite the country's legacy of harms from residential schools.

Seth has since quit as CBRM's director of fire and emergency services.

The municipality hired a Halifax lawyer to investigate the complaint and found that four councillors had breached CBRM's harassment policy.

'Certainly a lot of money'

It cost $18,000 for the investigator and another $12,000 for legal bills incurred by some councillors, according to chief administrative officer Marie Walsh.

"At the end of the day, $30,000 is certainly a lot of money and if we can avoid incurring those costs through better communication and sitting down and having those serious discussions about if somebody feels harassed, then I would certainly encourage going forward that we take that approach first, before we get engaged with legal," said Parsons, who was not involved in the complaint or the investigation.

According to an unaudited year-end financial statement from March 31, CBRM ended the last fiscal year with a deficit of more than $1 million.

However, if someone lays a formal complaint and will not accept an informal resolution process, the municipality is on the hook for the cost, Parsons said.

"CBRM, we don't have a lot of money ... but I am told, when I did inquire about the costs myself, that the pertinent cost in question is covered under our insurance policy," he said.

Two of the four councillors found to have breached the harassment policy have said they still do not feel they did anything wrong and they are concernedthe investigation was kept under wraps for nearly a year, until Seth resigned as fire chief in September.

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