Summerland man files misfeasance lawsuit against district CAO

Photo: File photo

A Summerland resident is adding to his ongoing legal saga with the local government, filling a misfeasance lawsuit against the District's CAO.

Brad Besler has been a frequent user of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, commonly known as FOI, and was handed a decision from B.C.'s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner in March placing limits on his fillings.

Besler fired back soon after, filing a formal request for a judicial review of the decision in BC Supreme Court.

While Besler has described his goal as "freedom and transparency" from the municipality, the District of Summerland has said that requesting so many documents through FOI is overwhelming staff time.

Besler is well known in the community for his critiques of council and district staff.

In the most recent 15-page lawsuit filed by Besler last week, he alleges that Graham Statt, who has been the District of Summerland’s CAO since January 2021, is misusing district resources during his hours of employment for his other work as a private pharmaceutical consultant.

He alleges that part of the reason the district sought relief to disregard past FOI requests from Besler and have limits on future FOIs is due to them wanting to conceal "any documents or information related to [Statt's] private pharmaceutical consulting that would contradict [Statt's] public statements or expose his conflict of interest."

In the lawsuit, Besler references a number of incidents from 2022 to 2024 where he claims an issue with Statt attending outside meetings and conferences during his CAO work hours.

Besler claims that Statt has held a private pharmaceutical consultations during his district hours of employment in his office and over Zoom on multiple occasions, along with using his district email to conduct his private pharmaceutical consulting.

"Statt has used his District email extensively for his private pharmaceutical consulting as it relates to, but not limited to, Santis Health, I2U, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research (“CHSPR”), Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (“CADTH”), and the Pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (“PCPA”)," the lawsuit reads.

Besler is seeking a declaration that Statt was conducting activities related to his private pharmaceutical consulting during his District of Summerland hours of employment and is also seeking relief from the defendants in the form of general damages, aggravated damages, punitive damages and costs in an unspecified amount.

Castanet contacted Statt for comment on the lawsuit, who stated he has no comment at this time as the matter is before the courts.

None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been proven in court, and all named parties have a right to respond with countersuits should they choose to do so.