Without a doubt, the infamous Braun report has become Kamloops City Council’s most powerful weapon in its battle with Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson. This is a 21 page Municipal Advisor’s Report prepared by Henry Braun in April 2024. In it, he clearly blames the Mayor for the council’s chaos and dysfunction.
I start questioning this report from the opening sentence.
The writing of this report commenced after the Mayor’s suspension of the Acting CAO and subsequent Council reversal by an 8-0 vote, with the Mayor being absent.
I attempted to get some answers by emailing citycouncil@kamloops.ca. Based on prior experience, I doubted I’d get a reply. To my surprise I received the following response from Councillor Karpuk: “received and noted“.
Who Is Henry Braun?
Braun is the Municipal Advisor hired by the BC Ministry of Municipal Affairs to advise Council on working together to resolve its dispute with the Mayor. Braun is a former mayor of Abbotsford, BC (2014 to 2022), and former city councillor. He was about 74 years old at the time of writing the report.
As a city councillor, Braun gained recognition as being the only opposer when voting. Former Mayor Bruce Banman has in the past stated that Braun is not a “team player”. It remains a mystery as to how or why Braun was chosen for this role and the ministry remains tight-lipped.
Considering Braun’s history, age, and lack of experience as a Municipal Advisor, one might wonder if the candidate pool was lacking.
Wasn’t There Originally A Different Advisor?
Yes, there was. Peter Fassbender, a former Liberal MLA and former Mayor of Langley, BC, was chosen first in 2023. Shortly after his engagement began, he was removed from the role. CBC News reported that Fassbender was informed in December 2023 that he would soon be out of a job. Fassbender was dumbfounded when told the ministry decided to take a different direction.
Check out Mel Rothenburger’s thoughts in this CFJC Today article: ROTHENBURGER: Eby owes explanation for cutting Fassbender out of City review
Of note is that municipal advisors can be appointed on direction by the council, with the ministry having the final say. Considering Fassbender had already started interviewing councillors, did City Council decide he wasn’t likely to deliver the results they desired? Did they make a request for a different advisor, perhaps even specifically requesting Braun?
According to Radio NL, the ministry stated “We will work quickly with the City to determine the best fit for a new advisor”. Although Councillor Margot Middleton made the original request for an advisor, when asked, she claimed the council was as surprised as Fassbender at the termination of his contract.
Acting CAO’s Suspension
Braun notes the Mayor had the power to suspend Acting CAO Byron McCorkell as per the Community Charter. He also Indicates he wouldn’t support using this power for matters that extend back in time, such as “removing a campaign sign”. With no further explanation provided, the reader is left to assume that was the reason for the suspension.
McCorkell wasn’t suspended for removing a campaign sign. He wasn’t even suspended for the premature removal of approximately 25% of Hamer-Jackson’s campaign signs. The Mayor was not given an opportunity to share his reasons with Council. Rather than meeting at a date suggested by the Mayor, Council called a meeting of their own, knowing the Mayor would be absent, and overturned the suspension without hearing the Mayor’s reasons.
Although Braun knew several councillors have family members who work for the city, and therefore under McCorkell’s authority, he didn’t mention the potential or perceived conflict of interest in voting for McCorkell’s reinstatement.
Braun is familiar with the public’s concern around this topic. Braun shares some common ground with those councillors, as during his time as a councillor in Abbotsford, he had a son working as Director Of Development Planning. While running for Mayor in 2014, he himself was questioned about a potential conflict of interest: https://www.abbynews.com/news/election-2014-braun-says-sons-job-with-city-is-not-an-issue-1731597
A responsible council should have acknowledged the potential and perceived conflict of interest. They should have made those councillors recuse themselves. Of course that would have left them without a quorum. And of course, that would require them to hold a meeting with the Mayor present.
I’ll continue looking at the rest of this questionable report with my eyes wide open. Be sure I’ll have more to say about it. Stay tuned.
You can read Braun’s report here: Henry Braun Report
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