Councillors are active in our community. Because we have jobs, businesses, and volunteer roles in Grande Prairie, potential conflicts are a natural part of the job. When these occur, we follow a strict process: we declare the interest, leave the room, and do not participate in the vote.

During the 2025 campaign, a resident suggested that these should be much easier to find than digging through City Minutes or YouTube. And I agree! So going forward, I am making it easy to track my declarations by posting them here. For those interested in the "why" behind this process or the difference between “Pecuniary Interests” and “Conflict of Interests,” you can also scroll down to learn more about the legal requirements surrounding these.

Pecuniary Interest Declarations

I declared a Pecuniary Interest, removed myself from Council Chambers during discussion, and refrained from voting on the following agenda items:

  • March 2, 2026: Northwest Alberta Foundation. NAF applied for City sponsorship for their "7 over 70" event. Since my wife is an employee of the Foundation, this constitutes a pecuniary interest for me. To ensure the process remained independent, I declared this interest and removed myself from the entire Corporate Sponsorship funding discussion.

Conflicts of Interest

I declared a Conflict of Interest, removed myself from Council Chambers during discussion, and refrained from voting on the following agenda items:

  • December 8, 2025: Disc Golf Tee Pads. The Grande Prairie Disc Golf Club is a non-profit society I founded and continue to volunteer for. I don’t receive any payment for my work there, but because of my deep involvement, I recused myself when the club requested City funding for short teepads in our local parks. To ensure a fair process, I left the room during both the Committee of the Whole discussion and the final Council meeting where this was decided.

  • March 2, 2027: Canadian National Disc Golf Championships. I am serving as the volunteer Local Organising Committee Chair for the 2026 Canadian National Disc Golf Championships, which Grande Prairie is hosting this summer. Because this event was a candidate for the City’s Sport Hosting Funding, I recused myself from the entire funding conversation. To make sure there was no conflict I didn't just skip the vote on this specific event: I removed myself from the discussion regarding the entire "bucket" of organizations being considered for funding. I also stepped away from the earlier Investment & Strategy Committee meeting where these grants were first reviewed.

Legal background information

Everything Council does is governed by the provincial Municipal Government Act (MGA). It lays out Councillors responsibilities.

A Pecuniary Interest happens when a Councillor (or their spouse, children or employer) could be financially impacted by a matter before Council. However, there are some important exceptions. For example, a pecuniary interest does not exist if the matter broadly impacts the majority of voters or the majority of voters in a particular area, has to do with a position the Councillor has because they were appointed to it by Council, is discussing Council remuneration, or the financial interest “is so remote or insignificant that it cannot reasonably be regarded as likely to influence the councillor.” When a Councillor has a pecuniary interest, they are required to declare it and remove themselves from Council. If they fail to do so, they are required to resign from Council.

A Conflict of Interest is commonly defined as happening “when a Councillor's private interests or personal relationships could (or even just appear to) interfere with their ability to make an objective decision for the public interest.” When a conflict of interest happens, a Councillor may declare it and remove themselves from discussion and voting. If a Councillor fails to do so, there are no legal (only political) consequences. However, as a matter of integrity, my practice is to always declare a Conflict of Interest when I become aware of one.

An important note: it is very clear in the MGA that these declarations are matter of personal judgement. Only an individual Councillor can remove themselves from a meeting due to a Pecuniary Interest or Conflict of Interest. There is nothing Council can do to compel a Councillor to make a declaration and remove themselves from a vote.