A lawsuit filed by a local builder against Calgary’s mayor was dropped but the process resulted in Mayor Nenshi facing legal fees nearing the six-figure mark.
According to Nenshi, the defamation lawsuit lasted nearly two years and left him with a bill of roughly $100,000. The mayor says he always planned to cover the bill’s cost but council has passed a new policy stabling a stance on legal fees.
“Under what council passed, the city will have to pay all of it including that $100,000,” said Nenshi, “but, of course, all of that will be reimbursed.”
“‘Will some of that be reimbursed from my personal funds?’ It may be.”
Nenshi says donors have been willing to chip-in but, to date, he has not accepted any of their offers.
“If it could all be done without my knowing the names of the donors that would be terrific,” said Nenshi. ‘I’m not sure that’s going to work.”
Ward 4 councillor Sean Chu says the mayor’s bill could have been a lot less expensive if he adopted his final approach to the matter earlier.
“The mayor has two years simply to say I’m sorry,” said Chu. “He ended up saying that anyway.”
Nenshi says if his legal costs are covered by people other than him, he will release their names and the amount they paid.
With files from CTV's Chris Epp
