An external investigator has dismissed a code of conduct complaint filed by the mayor of Kamloops, B.C., against a city councillor.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, who has repeatedly clashed with members of Kamloops council, had filed the complaint against Coun. Dale Bass after statements she gave to CFJC Today in October 2024.

Bass had said in an article posted on Oct. 30 of that year, that Hamer-Jackson’s behaviour towards staff had led the rest of council to strip him of his official office.

“He bullies and harasses, and staff does not feel safe. We have staff off on medical leave because of his presence,” Bass told the publication.

Hamer-Jackson filed a complaint afterwards, alleging Bass’s statement was broadcast “with no proof, evidence and facts” and contravened the city’s code of conduct.

But external investigator Reece Harding, who previously served as the City of Surrey’s ethics commissioner, found that Bass’s statement was true after speaking to city staff.

He found that at least two city employees had to take medical leave due to Hamer-Jackson’s behaviour toward them, and staff had repeatedly had their personal information disclosed by the mayor.

In addition, the report revealed that four complaints had been filed against Hamer-Jackson “due to bullying and harassing behaviour” with WorkSafeBC, the province’s workplace regulator.

“I am left, at the end of this matter, somewhat puzzled as to why Mayor Hamer-Jackson filed this complaint,” Harding wrote.

“While I do not intend to engage in an analysis as to whether [the complaint] was frivolous, vexatious, or filed in bad faith … I wish to note that the Code of Conduct should be taken seriously as a set of ethical guidelines to which Council has agreed to hold itself.”

The mayor has been no stranger to controversy since his 2022 election, including accusing a local journalist of assault.

He has filed two defamation suits against a fellow city councillor — one of which has been dismissed — and has had his pay cut after leaking confidential documents.

In 2024, eight councillors formally asked him to resign as mayor. Hamer-Jackson declined to do so.

In an interview, Bass welcomed the investigation’s findings, and said it would help the public understand the steps council took to protect staff from Hamer-Jackson.

“I don’t know how to explain the mayor’s behaviour to anyone anymore,” she said.

“It makes no sense to me at all what he does, why he does it, how he does it. It’s just chaotic bluster from my viewpoint.”

‘Who hired you,’ mayor asks of external investigator

In his report, Harding noted that Hamer-Jackson was uncooperative with the investigation and refused to provide the investigator with necessary information.

As the investigation progressed, after multiple requests for more information from Harding, Hamer-Jackson eventually began accusing Harding of bias.

“In response, Mayor Hamer-Jackson sent an email which stated the following: ‘Who hired you. The individual please,’” the report says, referring to one request for information.

“I advised him that I was hired by the City, not any individual person, and reminded him that I had responded to this inquiry previously on several occasions and that I would not be responding to it further.”

The report ultimately says that, despite Hamer-Jackson being the complainant in the case, he provided Harding with little information to back his complaint up.

In an interview with CBC News, Hamer-Jackson said Harding has handled a number of complaints for the city and questioned why another external investigator wasn’t assigned in the case.

“You hire a lawyer to get the result you want and I think the [city] CEO should be questioned on why Reece Harding all the time,” he said.

In an email, Harding said he would not make public comments on the investigation and said that was his approach with any investigations he conducted.

Last year, the province promised to introduce more oversight for dysfunctional city councils in B.C., with changes likely to happen after this year’s municipal election.