City of Calgary investigated councillor due to residency concerns

CBC News has learned that the City of Calgary investigated a member of city council this year because of concerns he may have moved to Saskatchewan.

Coun. Shane Keating was investigated by the city, after the organization wanted to ensure no rules had been broken. 

Under provincial law, local politicians must reside in the community they are elected in.

The investigation concluded Keating still lives in Calgary, but as he prepares to leave office after 11 years on council, the episode has left a sour impression on him.

"I'm really disappointed in how this was handled," said Keating.

The fact that he has spent time in Saskatoon over the past 22 months is not a secret.

Wife needed cancer treatments

Keating says his wife was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. As both she and Keating have family supports there, she went to Saskatchewan for her treatment.

The councillor has spent time since then travelling to and from Saskatoon to help care for his spouse.

He said he cleared the situation with council's ethics advisor and senior city officials were aware of the situation.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, travel restrictions made it difficult for him to move between the provinces.

During that time and into 2021, he estimates he was out of Calgary for no longer than two months at a stretch.

He still took part in council meetings remotely and travelled frequently to Calgary for his responsibilities.

As well, he said he maintained his permanent residence in Calgary and kept his Alberta drivers license, health card and all other connections to the city.

However, the city decided to investigate whether had moved to Saskatchewan and become a resident there, something that would make him ineligible to sit on city council.

Outsider hired

An external lawyer was hired by the city as part of that investigation.

Last March, the city sent him a letter with a list of questions as part of its investigation.

The first question was:  "When did you move to Saskatchewan?"

Keating said he was extremely disappointed with what he calls the city's totally inappropriate approach instead of just sitting down and talking with him.

He wrote out a response to the city's questionnaire.

"Your first question is making an assumption rather than asking a question and all your other questions are immaterial to the question you're asking. So why are we having this?" said Keating.

The city also asked Keating to respond to questions well beyond the scope of the requirements to be a city councillor, including asking him where his family resided, whether he had a telephone land line in Calgary and where he performs any volunteer activities.

Keating said after the investigation concluded there was no issue, he received an apology from the city manager and the city clerk for the way the process went.

Top official defends decision

City manager David Duckworth said it was just due diligence that administration decided to look into Keating's residency following news reports and chatter on social media that he no longer lived in Calgary.

"Of course, it's a legal requirement for a member of a council to reside in the municipality where they serve," said Duckworth. "We were really bound to look into this."

He said an external lawyer was hired to oversee the process to both ensure this was an independent investigation of a sitting council member and to not add to existing workloads in the city's law department.

Duckworth estimates the outside legal work cost the city about $3,800.

As for the questions Keating was asked, the city manager said he was unaware of the specifics as that work was up to the investigator.

However, he said that he did apologize to Keating for the way the matter was handled but that the three term councillor understood the city had to take steps to ensure there were no violations of provincial legislation.

"Coun. Keating and I have had several conversations and I know his feelings were hurt. He was an incredible member of our council that led with incredibly high ethics," said Duckworth.

Keating has packed up his councillor office as he chose not to run in this month's municipal election. His term officially ends on Oct. 25.

As for what's next after politics, Keating said that he does plan to move to Saskatoon permanently in the near future and enjoy retirement.