Adam Walker on Qualicum Beach Council, 2018–2020

The closed-door dispute and his court case, 2020

In 2020 Council dealt with a confidential Town document Walker had written. The Town says it held sensitive personal information about other people, and that a Town employee had complained about it. According to the Town, Walker had put a copy on Google Docs and given copies to three people. In April, Council had the copies returned and shredded.

In closed meetings, Council then voted that he swear a statutory declaration that he had recovered every copy (June 25). It also voted that he write an apology to the employee (July 13). A motion to remove him from the acting mayor rotation failed. The Town says Walker seconded and voted for the declaration motion.

On July 28, 2020, Walker asked the BC Supreme Court to quash both decisions (Nanaimo Registry, file S91448). He said Council had asked for the declaration without the power to require it, and had acted unfairly. He said he had not been told the allegations or shown the evidence, and had no one to represent him. In his words, Council “failed to act fairly”.

On August 6, after hearing from him, Council withdrew the apology order. It put off the declaration to get legal advice, and voted to have the Mayor apologize to the employee instead. In its September 4 response to the court, the Town opposed all of Walker’s requests. It said it had acted fairly, and that Council “has not considered a motion of censure” against him.

We found no court ruling and no public record of how the case ended. None of these decisions was ever released in the Town’s open minutes. We know about them only from the two court filings.

Sources: Petition to the Court, Adam Walker v. Town of Qualicum Beach, BC Supreme Court, Nanaimo Registry, file S91448 (filed Jul 28, 2020) (Adam Walker); Response to Petition, file S91448 (Sep 4, 2020) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Special Council minutes, Jun 25, 2020 (closed to the public; re-opened Jul 13, 2020) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Special Council minutes, Aug 6, 2020 (closed to the public) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Qualicum Beach councillor files court petition against the town (Aug 11, 2020) (Parksville Qualicum Beach News)

The survey Council disowned, 2020

In August 2020, Walker mailed postcards to residents inviting them to an “Official Community Plan Change” survey. The back of the card said it was organized by “Adam Walker, Councillor with the Town of Qualicum Beach.”

At the August 19 meeting, Mayor Brian Wiese objected that Walker had “singled out a proposed development without consultation with Council or senior staff”. Council voted 3–2 to have staff tell the public the survey “was not a Town sanctioned survey”. Mayor Wiese and Councillors Harrison and Westbroek voted for it; Walker and Filmer voted against. The Town’s release on August 25 said the survey came from a member of Council “acting independently without the prior knowledge of the Town”.

Walker said it was clear the survey was his own effort to engage the community, and that he had asked most of Council for feedback on it first but hadn’t heard back. Councillor Filmer said other councillors’ letters to residents hadn’t been treated this way. Councillor Harrison said the survey could look like it came from the Town. The minutes don’t name the development.

Sources: Regular Council minutes, Aug 19, 2020 (Councillor Walker’s survey, pp. 2 and 4) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Media release: Unauthorized Survey in Qualicum Beach (Aug 25, 2020) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Qualicum Beach says survey circulated by councillor was not endorsed by the town (Aug 2020) (Parksville Qualicum Beach News)

How he left, and the by-election

• October 7, 2020: running for the NDP in the provincial election, Walker asked Council to remove him as Deputy Mayor and grant him a leave of absence until election day. “I value our non-partisan local government,” he wrote. Council granted it.
• November 2020: once his win was confirmed, he said he had no obligation to resign but would. He resigned the week of November 16. No public Town document gives the exact day.
• February 24, 2021: the staff report on the by-election said “a total of $60,000 was included in the draft 2021 budget” for it. We found no published figure for what it actually cost.
• May 15, 2021: Anne Skipsey won the by-election, with 1,539 of 3,366 ballots. Turnout was 40.7%. The seat was empty for six months.

Sources: Councillor Walker’s letter requesting a leave of absence (Oct 7, 2020 late item) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, Oct 7, 2020 (leave of absence for Councillor Walker, p. 3) (Town of Qualicum Beach); NDP’s Adam Walker officially elected as new Parksville-Qualicum MLA (Nov 9, 2020) (NanaimoNewsNOW); Media release: Town Councillor Adam Walker Elected (Nov 20, 2020) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council agenda, Feb 24, 2021 (by-election staff report, pp. 253–255) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council agenda, May 27, 2021 (by-election results, pp. 77–79) (Town of Qualicum Beach)

What he pushed for

Many of his motions were about openness. Most failed. The minutes usually record only whether a motion passed, not who voted which way.

• December 2018: audio recordings of Council open houses and closed meetings. Failed.
• August 2019: filming Advisory Planning Commission meetings. Failed.
• December 2019: a policy so that sales of Town land are “transparent and represents the best return on investment for the community”. Referred to staff.
• January 2020: putting the correspondence log, and how to reach Council, on the Town website. Passed.

Sources: Regular Council minutes, Dec 17, 2018 (recording closed meetings) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, Aug 12, 2019 (filming Advisory Planning Commission meetings; Code of Conduct options) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, Dec 16, 2019 (Town-owned land sale policy) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council minutes, Jan 15, 2020 (correspondence log on the website; Railway Street rezoning, first reading) (Town of Qualicum Beach)

The letters binder

Walker now says he would bring back public access to letters sent to Council, which he says used to be kept upstairs at Town Hall before meetings. We first said we found no record either way. The agendas show one, and our fact check now rates his claim Accurate.

Through his time on Council and after, the correspondence logs we checked said copies of the letters were “available to review in the binder at the Municipal Offices information counter, #201 – 660 Primrose Street”. The note was still there on May 3, 2023. By June 14, 2023 it was gone, and the log no longer named who each letter was from. We found no Council decision behind the change.

Sources: Regular Council agenda, Nov 18, 2020 (correspondence log and binder note, p. 6) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council agenda, May 3, 2023 (last correspondence log with the binder note, p. 10) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Regular Council agenda, Jun 14, 2023 (correspondence log without the binder note, p. 10) (Town of Qualicum Beach)

What we looked for and didn’t find

We searched the minutes of every Council meeting from November 2018 to November 2020 for censures, sanctions, conflict of interest declarations, confidentiality breaches and bullying or harassment complaints. The open minutes record none involving Walker. They also don’t show the closed-meeting decisions about the document described above. The Town kept those confidential, and we found them only in court filings. Walker’s petition says a Town official told him the Town’s legal opinion was that he was “in a conflict of interest” by attending the June 25 meeting. We found no conflict of interest declared, found or acted on. The Town had no council code of conduct in his time; Council adopted one in 2022.

He missed 7 of the 86 meetings. Four were in October 2020, after he asked for leave for the provincial campaign; Council granted it on October 7.

Sources: Council minutes, all meetings (Town of Qualicum Beach); Council Standards of Conduct, Policy 3004-7 (2022) (Town of Qualicum Beach); Petition to the Court, Adam Walker v. Town of Qualicum Beach, BC Supreme Court, Nanaimo Registry, file S91448 (filed Jul 28, 2020) (Adam Walker)