Harsh criticism from a former Liberal Solicitor General, and West Vancouver police chief is being levelled at Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins.
Speaking to CFAX 1070 about the OPCC investigation into Former VicPd Chief Frank Elsner, Kash Heed, says it's clear Helps and Desjardins "deceived and misled" the Office of the Police Complaints Commission in their investigation:
" They not only deceived and misled the OPCC, they deceived and misled the public on this. If you go back to how this story came to light, it was a reporter that revealed what had actually taken place. And I recall the interview because I was given a phone call right after the interview with Barb Desjardins where she actually played a bit of a game with it. So I'm not sure what they were trying to do."
In that 2015 interview Desjardins denied there had been an inappropriate relationship, despite an internal report to the police board that concluded just the opposite.
Both mayors expressed their continued support of Elsner, and when the OPCC launched further investigations they tried to stop them, and voted to continue paying Elsner once he was suspended.
Heed says the mayor's actions have cost taxpayers a considerable amount of money. He estimates the tab is well over $1-million when Elsner's salary, and legal costs are coupled with the cost of the added investigation.
The damning report has some asking whether the pay Elsner received while on suspension during the OPCC investigation can be recouped. Also -- whether his pension can be recovered. But according to Heed, that's not likely:
" Well he would have been on pension because he was a retired chief from Ontario, so he would have had a pension there. The pension here would have been under the BC Municipal Pension Act, and you can't get at that either. He's got it, he's resigned, he's gone, you're not going to get it. You can go through a civil process but it's going to be highly unlikely, in my humble opinion, that you would get any recovery of the taxpayer dollars that were spent on this."
Heed also says he does not agree with the recommendation to replace mayors with retired judges as Disciplinary Authorities in cases where chiefs or Deputy Chiefs are under investigation -- saying there have been many qualified mayors acting in such positions over the years who have done the accountable and extraordinary job that citizens would expect.
Both Help and Desjardins have expressed strong disagreement with the OPCC conclusions regarding their actions.