Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart alleges in a civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court that Metro Vancouver defamed him amid an independent investigation of an alleged data breach involving sensitive legal documents.

Stewart filed the claim Aug. 28 through lawyer Paul Hildebrand. He is seeking damages for loss of income, loss of reputation and physical and emotional distress.

Metro Vancouver denied all of the allegations in a response to the civil claim filed on Aug. 31, calling them frivolous, vexatious and abusive. The regional government body is also seeking special costs against Stewart. It maintains that “the circumstances of the breach were suspicious.”

The dispute surrounds Stewart’s alleged mishandling of legal documents pertaining to the former North Shore wastewater treatment plant contractor Acciona.

It began on Jan. 17, 2022 when members of the Metro Vancouver board, including Stewart, were handed privileged and confidential documents informing them of the project’s troubles and pending termination of Acciona.

Stewart said it was customary for him to share access to his Metro Vancouver files with then-Coquitlam city manager Peter Steblin and other senior bureaucrats.

Steblin’s daughter Anika Calder happened to be an employee of an Acciona subsidiary. Stewart stated to the best of his knowledge Calder had taken photos of the documents while they were opened on a computer at Calder’s home on Jan.18, 2022.

In May 2022 Acciona disclosed that it was in receipt of the documents, prompting Metro Vancouver chief administrative officer Jerry Dobrovolny to launch an internal investigation.

Stewart claims he was not informed he would be the “respondent” in the investigation. Stewart claims, despite its supposed independence, Metro Vancouver instructed the external investigator, lawyer Nicole Byres, to focus on allegations of wrongdoing against him.

Byres’ report went to the board in September 2022 without Stewart receiving advance warning that he had been named as the respondent. In that meeting Stewart recused himself.

Stewart’s claim states the report concluded Stewart could not be at fault for sharing his credentials, as this was common practice. However, the report faulted Stewart for breaching his oath of office on grounds he did not know who was using his login credentials. It also found Stewart did not take reasonable steps to investigate the leak.

Stewart says he was not given an opportunity to provide a full list of the people to whom he had given his credentials.

He also stated that he, as mayor, did not have power to commence a formal investigation, only council did. He nevertheless interviewed Steblin and Calder and relayed that information to Metro Vancouver.

On Oct. 26, 2022 the board passed a resolution to write a letter to Coquitlam city council asking it never to appoint Stewart to the board.

Stewart claims Metro Vancouver defamed him by releasing the report to the board and by issuing the letter to council, as this “implied that [Stewart] had acted in an illegal and inappropriate manner, rendering him unfit to serve as a director of Metro.”

The resolution took place nine days after Stewart, the mayor since 2008, was re-elected. He has chosen not to run for public office this fall.

Stewart also took issue with an affidavit from Dobrovolny that repeats many of the events that occurred and names Stewart. Metro Vancouver posted the affidavit on its website in December 2022.

Metro Vancouver lawyers at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP are asking the court to dismiss the claim.

“The circulation of a report by staff internally to their board; the communication of a board resolution; and the filing of an affidavit in judicial proceedings are obviously not the proper subject of defamation claims,” the response states.

Metro Vancouver claims Stewart failed to take accountability for the breach.

“Stewart remains responsible for the use or misuse of his login credentials and the confidentiality of all closed meeting materials, including by Steblin,” the response adds.

Metro Vancouver also noted Dobrovolny confronted Stewart about the breach, showed him Calder’s photos and informed Stewart an investigation would take place.

The response claims: “Stewart had a long-standing personal relationship with Steblin, and through that relationship with Steblin’s daughter Calder, as a family friend.

“Stewart accepted Steblin’s explanation in that context. The circumstances of the breach were suspicious,” including how Steblin reviewed the documents at his daughter’s home and only one day after the closed meeting in January.

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