Former Chilliwack councillor facing allegations of 'financial misconduct'

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Kendra Mangione CTV News Vancouver

Sam Waddington is seen in an interview with CTV News in 2016.

A former municipal politician is facing allegations of what the BC Prosecution Service calls "financial misconduct."

Two charges have been approved against Samuel Josh Waddington, the BCPS confirmed in an email to CTV News Tuesday.

He faces two counts of breach of trust for incidents alleged to have occurred in Chilliwack in May and November 2017, at a time when Waddington was running for mayor.

The charges fall under Section 122 of the Criminal Code, the prosecution said, which states: "Every official who, in connection with the duties of his office, commits fraud or a breach of trust is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, whether or not the fraud or breach of trust would be an offence if it were committed in relation to a private person."

Waddington is a former Chilliwack, B.C. city councillor who previously served as deputy mayor.

Last year, the city announced council referred Waddington's expenses to an independent auditor and to the RCMP.

Council minutes provided to CTV News by city officials in September 2018 included a statement from Waddington, in which he said another councillor was "startled to see my expenses for the last four years totalling almost $50,000.00."

At the time, Waddington said that at no point did he breach council's expense policy, and that each of his expenses had been reviewed by staff and authorized prior to reimbursement.

"There has been ample opportunity for any of my council colleagues to ask me for clarity on any of the work I have been doing," he said, according to the minutes.

"I promise you that I am working as hard as I can on your behalf."

Expenses outlined during that meeting included breakfast meetings and a trip to Ottawa, during which he stayed in an Airbnb rental.

At the time, another councillor noted "a strong and reoccurring pattern of entertaining others who have no direct benefits to provide the City of Chilliwack."

Waddington's response, the council minutes suggest, is that working with local governments across Canada can benefit Chilliwack.

Last September, the city also provided media with seven redacted emails involving Waddington's expenses.

The senders in many of the messages to the city's mayor deny the meetings Waddington outlined in council.

"While I may have spoken to Sam Waddington during that conference, I can state definitely that I was not his guest for any meals: other than one meal where I went to a restaurant alone, I ate the meals provided by the conference," one email to Sharon Gaetz says.

"Specifically, I was not his guest for breakfast at the (redacted) restaurant, nor for lunch at the (redacted) restaurant, at any time during the conference."

Another addressed to the mayor starts, "Hi Sharon – How very weird."

Most of the message is redacted to protect personal information, but one section says: "I've asked (redacted) if she had a meeting with Mr. Waddington and her response was: 'Not a chance in the world.'"

Another email, sent from a hotel, shows the expenses were tied to room service, not the hotel's restaurant.