Did Tomlinson Violate the Building Code Act?

Here's yet another issue that Council needs to address.

The Building Code Act states:

Code of conduct

7.1  (1)  A principal authority shall establish and enforce a code of conduct for the chief building official and inspectors. 2002, c. 9, s. 12.

And,

"principal authority" means,

(a) the Crown,

(b) the council of a municipality,

(c) an upper-tier municipality that has entered into an agreement under subsection 3 (5), 6.1 (1) or 6.2 (1),

(d) a board of health that has been prescribed for the purposes of subsection 3.1 (1) or has entered into an agreement under subsection 6.1 (2) or (3) or 6.2 (2),

(e) a planning board that has been prescribed for the purposes of subsection 3.1 (1), or

(f) a conservation authority that has been prescribed for the purposes of subsection 3.1 (1) or has entered into an agreement under subsection 6.2 (2); 

So what?

Well, Mayor Paul Tomlinson, in the September 13th, 2012 edition of the Almaguin News says he directed Chief Building Official Henry Hess as to how he should handle permit situations where the construction was complete. Tomlinson also directed Hess that if he saw signs of an issue, such as a bowed roof, he would purse the issue further. But if things looked sound to Hess, Tomlinson directed that he should be satisfied.

Sounds reasonable, except Hess doesn't answer to Tomlinson, and Tomlinson has no authority to give direction to the CBO on how he should conduct himself. Hess is answerable to the "principal authority", in this case, "the council of a municipality". All this after Tomlinson swore up and down that neither he or council have any authority to give direction to the CBO. And we couldn't find any council meeting minutes that authorize Hess to "handle permit situations" or deal with "signs of an issue" a certain way, nor anything that authorizes Tomlinson to give Hess direction on Council's behalf. So Tomlinson has publicly stated that he has no authority to direct Hess, the Building Code Act says Tomlinson has no authority to direct Hess, but Tomlinson is now publicly stating that he has been giving direction to Hess. "Lies, mostly lies"... How right you are, Barry.

Are you surprised?