The Integrity Commissioner found Kroetsch’s failure to disclose close relationships with encampment lawyers violated Council’s Code of Conduct. Pictured: Councillor Cameron Kroetsch. Photo Credit: City of Hamilton.
The City of Hamilton’s Integrity Commissioner David Boghosian recently determined that Councillor Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton) was in violation of the Council Code of Conduct for not disclosing that he has a close relationship with the lawyers who litigated against the city regarding homeless encampments.
A total of 14 homeless individuals recently argued through lawyers that the City of Hamilton’s enforcement of its parks by-law enforced between August 2021 and August 2023 breached their rights under the Charter.
Boghosian found that Kroetsch is close friends with two of the lawyers involved in that court case against the city and that he should have disclosed those relationships.
Kroetsch’s failure to do so was deemed in violation of ss. 8.(2)(b) and (4) of the Council Code of Conduct.
The two lawyers involved are Ashley Wilson and Wade Poziomka.
In an Instagram post by Kroetsch from October 12, 2020, Kroetsch calls Wilson one of his “best friends.”
A post from May 27, 2021 appears to indicate that Kroetsch and Wilson even lived in the same household at one point.
Wilson also appears to have volunteered on Kroetsch’s campaign for City Councillor.
Additionally, the Integrity Commissioner found that both of those lawyers have provided Kroetsch with free personal legal services.
Wilson was originally acting for Kroetsch in his legal matters regarding his suspension from the Hamilton Police Services Board, a case which Poziomka took over.
That situation is still ongoing and was active at the same time as the encampment litigation.
It’s unclear exactly why they are providing pro bono services to Kroetsch since that is something that lawyers usually do for a client with a low income.
Hamilton City Councillors, including Kroetsch, make over $97,000 per year.
The Integrity Commissioner also says that Kroetsch moved resolutions related to the encampment litigation that “contained terms favourable to the Applicants and their counsel in that litigation, and voted in favour of a third resolution of the same nature.”
The Integrity Commissioner adds that Poziomka acted for Kroetsch pro bono “while the Councillor was participating in closed session discussions of the Encampment Litigation, suggesting to a reasonable person that the later may have felt that he owed Mr. Poziomka a favour in return for having received, and continuing to receive, free legal services.”
In his ruling, Boghosian found that Kroetsch had a “non-disqualifying interest” that should have been disclosed.
He further recommended that Kroetsch be “reprimanded by Council” in respect of the breach.
Kroetsch campaigned strongly on transparency during his 2022 election campaign.
He even wrote in a Hamilton Spectator opinion piece in 2020 that “if the average person concludes there’s the potential for conflict, then the officials involved should do the right thing and either declare it or step down in favour of someone who has neither an actual nor perceived interest.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
