Southwestern Ontario politician sues city’s top official in $200K lawsuit

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SARNIA – A Sarnia city councillor is alleging the city’s top bureaucrat is trying “to render him ineffective” in a $200,000 lawsuit that also names the City of Sarnia.

Coun. Bill Dennis’s lawsuit against Sarnia chief administrator Chris Carter and the city was filed Oct. 31 by Olson Craig Legal Offices.

“This is a case of a bureaucrat strongly disliking a politician and attempting to render him ineffective, and his position as city councillor futile,” the statement of claim says.

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The lawsuit alleges Carter told Dennis on May 9 “all communication with staff shall cease and all communication with respect to municipal services shall be directed to (the) CAO only.”

Since, the statement of claim says, Carter has “stonewall(ed)” Dennis’s attempts to get answers on behalf of citizens, “essentially creating a wall of red tape a mile thick.”

The lawsuit also claims Carter is “blatantly and improperly retaliating against (Dennis) for the plaintiff’s outspoken nature over the years.”

The statement alleges Carter “has commenced a campaign of undermining Mr. Dennis’ legal authority as an elected official and is working towards ensuring Mr. Dennis does not become elected as mayor of Sarnia.”

Statements of claim and statements of defence include allegations not yet tested in court.

The Sarnia Observer emailed Carter and city communications manager Steve Henschel requesting comment.

“It would be inappropriate for the city to comment on an ongoing legal matter,” Henschel said.

Dennis has previously announced he intends to run for mayor in 2026.

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The statement of claim notes Dennis has said “Carter will not be welcome on Mr. Dennis’ municipal team,” citing Carter’s work performance.

Dennis, in an interview, said Carter sometimes takes weeks or months to respond to Dennis’s inquiries on behalf of citizens.

“He’s making me look bad,” Dennis said.

The result is having an effect on how citizens in the community see Dennis, and could affect his 2026 re-election prospects, said Matthew C. Olson, paralegal owner of Olson Craig.

“In essence, what’s occurring is (Carter is) eroding Bill’s ability to effectively represent those who elected him,” Olson said. “When we have unelected officials telling (councillors) how, when, why and at what pace they can do their job, they are interfering with our . . . democratic process.”

Dennis is seeking $150,000 in damages for misfeasance in public office, $30,000 for loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community and $20,000 in punitive damages, the statement of claim says.

Dennis said he couldn’t attend a recently called closed-door council meeting Nov. 12 because of a conflict of interest.

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Because the meeting was closed, what’s discussed can’t be disclosed, Henschel said.

“My guess is the meeting (was) about how they want to handle it, and if they want to fight it or . . . if Chris is going to change his ways,” Dennis said.

Dennis this year said he was the subject of a workplace harassment complaint at city hall, linked to a dispute with Carter over Dennis’s approach to bringing citizen concerns to city staff.

Dennis at the time said he was told to only contact Carter, instead of other city staff directly.

Council hasn’t met in person since May 6 and has been meeting by teleconference instead.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley has said it’s “related to issues in the workplace that have been brought forward by staff, council and others,” and that meeting virtually “was deemed prudent . . . to protect the people who came forward until we can get through this situation.”

Dennis has not participated in interviews for a city hall workplace investigation because he’s not a city employee, Olson said.

Additionally, Dennis “has several other significant lawsuits pending with our firm,” he said.

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“When you have that size of litigation coming up, you have what is called litigation privilege. That means you cannot be compelled by anyone to speak about what you’re going to say or your strategy in saying it until you say it,” he said.

In a separate lawsuit, Dawn Flegel, executive director of the Sarnia-Lambton Children’s Aid Society, is seeking $100,000, an apology and a retraction over allegedly “malicious and defamatory” social media posts Dennis made, accusing Flegel and the CAS of “discriminatory hiring practices” and “woke craziness,” a statement of claim says.

Some of those posts were the subject of a recent city integrity commissioner investigation in Sarnia.

In a $200,000 countersuit, Dennis says his social media comments were to constituents and addressing allegedly discriminatory hiring practices, and that claiming his social media posts were defamatory is a violation of his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

That statement of claim seeks a written apology, and damages for malicious prosecution, breaching Charter rights, and misfeasance in public office.

tkula@postmedia.com

@tylerkula

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