Judge reserves decision in case of Saskatoon city councillor

Saskatoon city councillor Darren Hill won’t find out for some time whether he can keep his job for the remainder of his term as Ward 1’s representative.

On Thursday, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Richard Danyliuk reserved his decision in the matter. A reserved decision generally means a judge will keep the case under consideration until a later date when a written decision may be provided.

After the November civic election, the longtime city councillor filed campaign contribution paperwork several weeks after a Feb. 16 deadline, which violated city bylaws. According to those bylaws, because Hill was elected, he is disqualified and must resign from his seat.

However, during a Saskatoon city council meeting April 27, Coun. Troy Davies introduced a motion to allow for a Court of Queen’s Bench justice to make that decision rather than council itself. The motion passed unanimously.

Since that meeting, council has also voted to withdraw its support for Hill, who was to run in an upcoming Federation of Canadian Municipalities election. FCM president Garth Frizzell reached out to Mayor Charlie Clark and outlined several instances of behavioural issues regarding Hill, which Frizzell said impacted FCM governance and staff.

Hill acknowledged some of that behaviour, but also said he took steps to correct it and to make amends.

The Ward 1 councillor says he has been suffering from the effects of a traumatic brain injury suffered sometime in 2016, the death of a child and the aftereffects of a COVID-19 diagnosis in early February.

No date has been given by Justice Danyliuk for his written decision.