North Cowichan Mayor Jon Lefebure reminded his council of the limits of their power Wednesday evening, cautioning them not to speak for the municipality to tradesmen.
“I was made aware that a councillor had spoken to a contractor working on Willow Street in Chemainus and felt it was important for council to understand, and I think most of you understand this, that there is no role or authority for a councillor in dealing with a contractor who has a contract with the municipality,” Lefebure said. “There just is no role. There’s no authority.”
He said the worker is probably a foreman working for his boss. His boss has a contract with the municipality. Lefebure added that if a councillor were to see something they were concerned about, they should notify North Cowichan CAO Dave Devana.
“[Councillors] have no role talking to those people working on the street. No authority. That can be very, very confusing for somebody working on the street when somebody with some sort of political authority is telling them that they’re doing the wrong thing or performing poorly or whatever it is.”
Lefebure said he wasn’t there and he didn’t know what words were exchanged but he hopes it won’t happen again.