The BC Prosecution Service has appointed a special prosecutor to assist with an investigation into West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager’s campaign finances.
In a media release Monday, the prosecution service said lawyer John Gordon, K.C., had been tapped to fill the role.
“The appointment of a Special Prosecutor is intended to avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence in the administration of justice given the subject of the investigation is a public official in a senior position of authority,” the prosecution service said.
The Port Moody Police Department is leading the probe into allegations of financial irregularities. Those arose when Sager used money from his 2022 election campaign to buy office furniture.
Sager told Global News he checked with Elections BC and was told he could “certainly” use leftover campaign funds to redo the mayor’s office.
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On Monday he told Global News he had no plans to resign.
Arthur Schafer, founding director at the University of Manitoba’s Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, said Sager’s continuing role as chair of the city’s police board, however, raises concerns.
“It looks bad, and even if he has no influence on the police force that will be doing the investigation or on the special prosecutor, I think as a matter of honour and to preserve public respect for the police and its independence he ought to step aside until he has been cleared,” he said.
Last week, the Law Society of BC suspended Sager’s law licence for two years for “professional misconduct.”
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