Winnipeg Free Press
Friday, February 3rd, 2006
By Mary Agnes Welch
TWO failed mayoral candidates were slapped with $400 fines yesterday for failing to file audited financial statements, but former city councillor Al Golden's day in court was postponed for three weeks.
Golden, who ran fifth to current Mayor Sam Katz in the 2004 byelection, made his first court appearance yesterday and said he plans to plead not guilty.
"I filed my returns," he told reporters after his brief court session.
Golden's lawyer asked that the matter be laid over until Feb. 23 so he could review some issues, but he wouldn't offer specifics.
Staff in the city clerk's office agreed Golden filed his financial statements, but not until several weeks after the May 31 deadline.
Last month, former River Heights councillor Garth Steek was fined $1,155 for not filing an audited financial statement following his failed bid for mayor.
He was the first person convicted under a 16-year-old city bylaw following a crackdown last month that saw a total of seven candidates charged.
Five additional candidates appeared in court yesterday.
A tearful Shirley Timm-Rudolph, a former Transcona city councillor and mayoral hopeful, pleaded guilty to the charge and was fined $400 by provincial court Judge Murray Howell.
Should have known
Howell said Timm-Rudolph should have known the rules, as she was a councillor when council passed the bylaw.
River Heights hopeful Jocelyn Greenwood also pleaded guilty and was fined $400.
Howell agreed their infractions weren't as egregious as Steek's. Both women have suffered recent financial difficulties, which the judge considered when assessing fines.
"It's very important that someone running for office follow the rules, because they make the rules," Howell said.
Former city councillor Kenneth Wong, who lost the River Heights-Fort Garry ward election to Donald Benham, asked that his case be put over until Feb. 23 so he could seek legal advice. Wong has said he turned over his books to the city, but refused to spend $600 on a formal audit.
Another candidate, John Scoles, proprietor of Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club, will reappear in court Feb. 23.
St. Boniface candidate Marcel Boille pleaded not guilty to the charge and a trial was set for October. He said the city violated his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by selectively enforcing the bylaw.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca