A controversial vote on the Waterloo Regional Police Service 2026 budget this past December is being called irregular, but valid.
An independent review of the situation, where Councillor Sue Foxton switched her vote after the results were announced that the motion had been defeated, finds that the budget still stands.
The motion was in regard to the capital portion of the police budget, which included plans for a new $173 million communications centre. The first tally of votes had councillors saying ‘no’ to the new centre and new cash, with a 7 to 8 result.
After the vote, Regional Council went into recess for around 11 minutes.
When the cameras were back on, Councillor and North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton announced she would like to change her vote against the budget, to support the numbers instead.
The change would mean the police budget would pass by a small margin.
“I’d like to reconsider my vote and move it back to what I voted before, which is the positive for the police capital forecast,” Foxton told council at the time.
She had previously voted for the police capital budget at the committee level earlier in the day. The vote was changed, and the contentious portion of the police budget was passed.
An independent review on the procedural validity of the vote has since been completed and finds the vote still stands.
“Although we have determined that the approval of the motion was procedurally irregular, it is our opinion that the defect relates only to council’s own internal or domestic rules; it does not pertain to any statutory or external requirement,” reads the report.
“As a result, the procedural irregularity does not invalidate the vote on the motion.”
The process of which the motion passed did not sit well with some regional councillors.
“I think this is really calling into question the way the democratic process runs,” Vrbanovic stated shortly after the vote change in December.
“I am just going to be noted on record that this is really making a mockery of democracy.”
Speaking with 570 NewsRadio the next day, Foxton said she had been having technical issues all night.
“I stand by my vote. My first vote was what I had done, and I stand by my vote. I made a stupid error,” Foxton stated.
“It was my human error, I’m not passing that onto anyone else.”
The independent review goes on to warn councillors not to rely on this standing for future votes.
“We caution members of Council to not rely on past precedent allowing post-announcement individual vote corrections. We urge Councillors to be vigilant to ensure they vote as they intend given that the Procedural By-law does not authorize self-correction of voting errors.”
The full report can be read here.
