A former municipal councillor sought judicial review of an integrity commissioner’s report and council decision imposing a 90-day suspension of remuneration for breaching a municipal COVID-19 vaccination policy and refusing to disclose vaccination status.
The applicant argued, for the first time on judicial review, that the decision infringed freedom of expression by punishing her right not to speak.
The Divisional Court held that the commissioner had sufficiently considered the relevant Charter values through the privacy, autonomy, and silence arguments actually advanced, and had reasonably balanced those values against the statutory objectives of enforcing the code of conduct and maintaining a workable vaccination policy.
The court also held that it was reasonable to interpret the policy as requiring councillors to disclose vaccination status and that the maximum penalty was reasonable.
The application was dismissed with partial indemnity costs of $7,500.
