New West mayor’s all-expenses paid trip Dubai breached ethics rules

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New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone violated the city’s code of conduct when he accepted an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai for a climate conference, but he did so inadvertently and in good faith, the city’s ethics commissioner has found.

Commissioner Jennifer Devins launched an investigation after a complaint filed by Councillors Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas in February, alleging Johnstone breached the city’s ethics code when he attended the COP28 Local Climate Action Summit in Dubai from Dec. 1 to 2, 2023 by “knowingly accepting an extravagant gift from a third-party organization.”

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Johnstone attended the conference from Dec. 1 to 6 with costs for the conference, travel and accommodations paid for by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a global network of nearly 100 mayors working to fight climate change that is headed by U.S. philanthropist and former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

In a summary report, issued in October, Devins said Johnstone was invited to, and attended the event in his capacity as mayor of New Westminster and the trip qualified as a gift and personal benefit, which councillors are prohibited from accepting.

There are exceptions laid out in the community charter, including if the gift or benefit was received “as an incident of the protocol or social obligations that normally accompany the responsibilities of the office.”

Devins made a distinction between Johnston’s attendance at the conference and the meals, travel and lodging associated with attending the conference.

While Johnstone’s attendance and conference fees qualified under the exemption, the meals, travel and accommodations did not.

“Unlike attendance at the conference, these gifts lack a connection to the respondent’s duties as a member of council and as mayor,” wrote Devins in the September report.

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She noted Johnstone flew business class, considered luxury travel. The report also said Johnstone stayed six nights at the five-star Waldorf Astoria hotel.

“The level of luxury suggests that attendance was more of a personal benefit than the fulfilment of a social obligation.”

While organizers are not lobbyists, they have a stated goal of influencing government policies, said Devlin, adding even if those goals aligned with the city of New West’s stated objectives to fight climate change there is still a potential conflict of interest.

“Public perception, rightly or wrongly, may be that by accepting the trip, (Johnstone) could be more easily influenced to implement climate change initiatives if approached by C40 Cities,” she said.

However, Devins found Johnstone acted in good faith.

He had informed the acting mayor and city’s chief administrative officer of his intention to attend the conference, she noted. He did not hide his acceptance of the trip, but posted publicly about it on his personal Instagram account and blog.

Once Johnstone became aware of concerns from other councillors, he sought legal advice and was told that the exceptions would apply to his case. He also filed a disclosure statement after he returned from his trip on the advice of counsel, the report said.

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Devins did not sanction the mayor but recommended he receive training on the relevant provisions of the charter.

In a statement to council, Johnstone said he agreed with the bulk of the findings, saying the report “provides a clear outline of the concern raised and fairly describes my actions.

“I fully support the recommendation made by the ethics commissioner.”

He suggested the commissioner conduct a workshop with council on the relevant sections in the community charter.

The mayor’s response is not enough, said some of his political rivals.

In a statement, Karima Budhwani, president of the New West Progressives, said Johnstone should pay back the cost of his trip, which the party estimated at about $15,000, or donate the amount to a local charity. Both Fontaine and Minhas are New West Progressive councillors.

Budhwani said Johnstone has been on council for over a decade and should know better.

“The ethics commissioner says the mayor should now ‘receive coaching or training’ around the rules, something a 10-year member of council shouldn’t need,” she said. “New Westminster residents expect their mayor to know the rules and to do the right thing.”

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Budhwani said the matter would be discussed during a special council meeting on Monday morning.

chchan@postmedia.com

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