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The province pressured Doug Gall to resign as Northumberland County warden because he was perceived to be lobbying his employer, Onmrlo's mlnlster of agriculture? says. L VumAAu: unumu v. "tT'"--" 7 " In an interview Tuesday. Elmer Buchanan said Gait had to follow guidelines set out in the Public Service Act which prohibit provincial employees from activities that conflict with government policy. a" _ -eeeeeeeei-" , ___ 4 Salt works for the Agriculture Ministry as head of its veterinary lab in Brighton. He received a letter on April 26 from Buchanan's deputy minister. Rita Burak, stating that he would have to resign as warden by last Monday of this week because of a "perceived conllict of interest." Galt dealt with fairly: agriculture minister ““1355ng a choice between his ministryjob' and politics, Gait stepped down as warden on Tuesday. ___ A ..' .1.‘r ,,,: Burak put con'straints on Galt. saying that if he continued as Cramahe reeve he shouldn't participate in any meetings or activities that would lobby the province on issues such as roads or municipal funding, sign correspondence opposing provincial policy, or vote on land severances and zoning changes opposed lay government ministries. - Cramah‘elouncll members refused to accept Galt's resignation, pending a full explanation frog} the province. - _ _ _ ""iie"'iiio resigned the night before as reeve of Cramahe Township because he believed he would be lneffectiye in the peitien, ' The agriculture minister told thepress last Tuesday he feels Gait has been treated fairly. "Galt was not centred out," he said, "We all feel badly about it, hut to be fair to all (staff), we had to do this." _ __ .. He pointed to an incident last fall in Northern Ontario in which an Agriculture Ministry employee was reprimanded for espousing political views after having won the nomination for a federal party. That policy must apbly "to all government emgloyees: Bychanap said. & Elngled out a letter signed by Galt which m9istry lawyers mah?tainftstfy_tes, lgbbylng._ It was written on Jan. W, 1993. Galt signed on behalf of county council. requesting that Northumberland farmers who were hard hit by poor growing conditions the previous summer be allowed to qualify for welfare and unemployment insurance. It also supported the maintenance of a provincial land tax rebate program. . The letter was circulated to area counties. thefedtral governmegt an? Buchanan's office, Buchanan said Burak made the correct decision to ask for Galt's resignation as warden on this basis, because his action contravened conilrct of interest guidelines for provincial employees. ihi letter stated the circumstances under which the motion was passed at the Dec. 9, 1992. county council meeting, following a presentation about the plight of corn and soy farmers in Northumberland. The subsequent motion passed by council appears in the letter above Galt's slgna.tu.re. Galt said He didn't perceive the letter lobhying. _ . _ _ Hi, said the signed letter is the only case pointed out to him by the ministry as being the source of a conflict with his government job, h, __t, A“ AL» -T-, .. . _ . Burak said she also advised Gait toJ resign because the amount of time he was spending on the wardenship was detracting from his duties at the lab. Gait requested a leave of absence from work to complete his term as warden, but this was reJefled. _ _ Galt said the government's ruling came as a surprise. He said he made numerous efforts to keep ministry officials informed about his decision to seek elected office as far back as October 1991. Ministry officials seemed comfortable with his decision. he said. 9nd never advised him not to pgoceed_. _ He acknowledges that Burak did point out to him in December 1991 - a month after his election as Cramahe reeve - that he should be aware of conflict-or-interest guldellnes for provincial employees, specKically Sectlun 11 of the Public Service Act which states an employee Warden Doug Galt's letter seen as lobbying See Conflict, Page 2 May 9-16 is Ponce Week in Ontario and in recognition, of that, the Culborne Chronicle presents a feature on the Brighton detachment of the OPP, which serves Colborne and Cramahe Township as well as Brighton. Brighton Townshrp and Murray Township. n -C nun ulPFk'g IOWnsmp. On page 3 of this week's Chronicle, you will find pho- tographs and names of all the staff of the Brtghton OPP detachment, along with an interview with staff Se‘rgeant OMay 9-16 is Ponce t{P‘ario and m recog at, the Calborne C To involve the public in Poiice council, a Week, there will be an open Planners for Salem Farms, house at the community Polic- bousfield. Dale-Harris, Cutler ing office in the Colborne and Smith. have sent corre- Medical Centre on King Street spondence to Cramahe indicat- East on Thursday, May 13 ing that, in the developers' from 1 to 5 Fm. Community View. the township's require- officer Doug Phelan and ment of a communal water Constable Scott Roe will he system for the planned subdi- there to welcome you, Coffee vision, m effect, "negates and doughnuts will be served ouncil's adoption of (the offiA and there will be a display with c 1 plan amendment or OPA)." a police theme. Staff Sergeant lem Farms' plan of subdivi- Ron LeClalr is also expected to s on failed to win the neces- make an appearance. ary approval of the Ministry of Everyone is encouraged to Municipal Affairs because, the attend. ministry stated, the townships Ollver: Crew Ron LeClair, commander. Police Week May g-16 with Open House Celebrate 'triTiiitachaent us acting Let The developer, which is hop- ing to create a 69-lot estate residential subdivision in Cramahe Township, just east of the boundary of the village of Colborne, will meet with Cramahe council on May 17, it was revealed at last week's regular meeting of Cramahe council. "it's politicking. and I don't like politicking." said Oliver this week. Gait also told couni oil in an emotional address last Monday night, that the time he takes for his municipal - W, “hum, 5w- ernment, has left council iruTedulous. By Eileen Argyn': Salem Farms Ltd. Is not tak- irg'no', for an answer. Council refused to accept Galt’s resignation. after he explained that he was being forced by his employer, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, to resign as Warden of Northumberland County and was voluntarily giving up his post as reeve due to "real or perceived conflict of inter- est." - V_,. .m. “mumrys explanation, that Galt's duties as reeve and Warden brought him into perceived conflict of interest with the agriculture ministry and the Ontario gov- Prnmnno Ln- .,n . By Es1emTGTTs ------=e, Stuart Oliver ls acting reeve of Cramahe Township in the wake of the tendered resigna- tion of Reeve Doug Galt last Monday, May 3, But Oliver says. the issue of the reslgna- tion is "not over yet." FN-_., .. .» _ Salem Farms fights back Tt's not over yet,' says acting reeve Oliver Says .4, H _ the m1nls_lry's In addition, the ministry cited concerns with the establish- ment of a "privately serviced development adjacent to a serv viced urban municipality (namely Colbornel." The ministry is encouraging development in built-up areas where land is still available in preference to development on previously rural or agricultural land. Last June, when the ofiicial plan amendment came before council for a vote, two mem- bers of council, Howard Whaley and George Blyth, voted against approval, while Deputy-Reeve Stu Oliver and approval of an official plan amendment to turn the cur- randy rural zoning into estate residential hinged on the installation of a communal water supply. The water ser- vice, the ministry said, was not provided for in the plans'from the developer. A _ ,,,,_...,..‘.. Coun. George Blyth even offered to resign his seat on council to make room for Galt's re-entry to municipal politics. should he decide in future to retire from his job as head of the veterinary labora- tory at the OMAF offices in Brighton. Oliver and all other members of the council told Galt last week they were "shocked," at this development. All of them spoke of their "respect" for him and over and over they referred to his "leadership." At each step, he said, he received only encouragement and no hint that time or can ilict of interest would be a problem. duties was a problem for his employers, However, he added he had made every attempt to avoid such a situation by keeping his employers informed at every step -- when he was thinking for running for reeve. when he was elected, when he was nominated and then elected to the Warden's chair. See Not Over, Page 2 See Fight, Page 2