A municipal byelection will have to be called in the Village Harrison Hot Springs as the BC Supreme Court has ruled Coun. Richard Shelley is not qualified to hold office.

Shelley won the final seat out of four in the Nov. 19 vote, but his win was contested by the fifth place candidate, Andrew Baziuk, who argued that because Shelley was a paid on-call firefighter, he was a municipal employee.

The petition was filed against Shelley who made two arguments in defence: that the fire department is not part of the municipal government, and that because Shelley asked the fire chief to have his salary donated to charity, he received no remuneration.

Justice David Masuhara rejected both arguments.

"In terms of the members of the fire department, they are under the ultimate control of the municipality," Masuhara wrote in his decision.

Shelley's request to defer his salary was also made after the election, on Dec. 4, 2011.

"Mr. Shelley’s request to . . . have his remuneration donated to a charity, while laudable, does not place him within the exception as set out in the Regulation because at the relevant time, which is at the time he was elected, Mr. Shelley had received and was entitled to monetary compensation," Masuhara found.

But despite what Baziuk concedes is a moral victory, he didn't get what he wanted. Because he finished in fifth he asked the court to declare him the winner of the fourth seat if Shelley was removed.

Shelley and the village argued if he was to be removed, there should be a byelection. The judge agreed.

"I did the job for the province and I have to now fight another [election]," Baziuk told the Times. "The public could be upset at me for spending, probably $20,000 to $30,000 of legal fees to fight me. They might have a very negative opinion of me."

However, he said he will run in the byelection and he thinks this court victory proves his willingness to fight for what is right.

Shelley received 284 votes to Baziuk's 269 in the 2011 election. Four other candidate finisheds with more than 200 votes.

A date for the byelection has not been set.

phenderson@chilliwacktimes.com

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