Under the watchful eye of bylaw officers, a group of protesters gathered outside Langford City Hall to call for the resignation for Coun. Lillian Szpak.
“Time to go,” cried one resident, waving a sign that read, ‘Trust is gone, Szpak resign now’.
“Fire Szpak,” said another.
The protest was organized in response to the findings of an investigation by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for B.C. (OIPC), which found the council had breached privacy law when sharing a resident’s personal information.
The original complaint made in 2021 by Langford resident Ed Court, alleged Szpak had “illegally obtained” his personal information from the city’s bylaw department, which she then shared with other city staff and councillors.
At that time, Court was involved in a parking dispute with his neighbour, the son of Szpak, which began in 2020.
While the investigator did not name anyone in their letter to Court, they did confirm his personal information was shared internally with "those in the city" who had a "personal rather than work-based interest" in his bylaw enforcement complaint.
"Hopefully she [Szpak] will be accountable and will be strong enough to do the right thing for Langford and resign," said Sandy Sifert.
“By council supporting her it shows the rest of the community that they're supporting her and condoning this as well,” she added.
Speaking to the modest crowd outside City Hall, before councillors were due to gather for a meeting on Monday (Jan. 13), Sifert and Beverley Sahlstrom said they would soon be launching a petition to support the campaign.
“We want to get the word out there and let everybody know what this council is doing,” said Sahlstrom.
“We're a city of almost 50,000 people and we get maybe just over 15 per cent people come out and actually vote, so we need to get the message out,” she added.
The group said the petition will be presented to both Langford and the provincial government.
“So that [the province] is aware that they need to change the rules, because we don't have any recourse to get people like this out of office, so we need to change the rules,” said Sahlstrom.
Around 10 to 15 people took part in the rally. More were expected said protesters, but they decided to stay home following the news the city had asked for West Shore RCMP officers to attend the Monday meeting in response to "unacceptable behaviour by some members of the public.”
While bylaw officers watched protesters outside, inside the council chambers, two police officers were in attendance at the meeting, which passed without incident.
The city said the decision for RCMP to attend had been made "out of an abundance of caution”, following recent outbursts at meetings.
"Recent feedback from some members of staff indicates increasing concerns for their personal safety," said a city spokesperson in a news release.
“It is regrettable that some members of our community feel that disruptive behaviour is acceptable in this venue,” said Mayor Scott Goodmanson, opening the Monday meeting.
“This is not who Langford is as a community, and I and council hope that everyone will remember that this is a workplace,” he continued.
“You're entitled to have your opinion, and that's contrary to others. You do not have the right though to make people feel unsafe in expressing their views.”