Mounties decline to investigate CBRM land sale

The Mounties have declined a request by Cape Breton Regional Municipality councillors to investigate CBRM’s sale of a parcel of land in Sydport industrial park.

The controversial deal was the result of a lease-to-own agreement CBRM council approved in 2015 under Mayor Cecil Clarke.

On Tuesday, council voted 11-1 in favour of asking the RCMP to review the sale, even though there was no allegation of wrongdoing.

Coun. Steve Gillespie, the only one to vote against the move, said he was not surprised the Mounties turned council down.

“I didn’t think it was procedurally correct,” he said in an interview. “I thought that the first part that we should have looked at is go through the municipal affairs office.”

After that, council could have gone to the provincial ombudsman, an outside lawyer or Cape Breton Regional Police, Gillespie said.

Two weeks ago, councillors got upset after finding out the sale had gone through without their knowledge, so last week they called in the RCMP.

CBRM bought the wharf property in Sydport in 2015 for $1.2 million and immediately leased it to Point Edward Marine, a company owned by ship repair and shipbreaking firm McKeil Marine of Ontario.

Under the lease agreement, the company paid CBRM $90,000 a year for 10 years and had an option to buy at the original price of $1.2 million, less $60,000 a year credit for lease payments.

Last week, CBRM said the final purchase price was $546,600.

The deal with Point Edward Marine was initially put together by another company owned in part by Albert Barbusci, who had been working on a separate proposal to market a piece of municipal land next to Sydport for a potential container terminal.

In 2022, Barbusci bought Point Edward Marine and now owns the Sydport property, a fact that also upset some councillors, who say the man who engineered the deal was the only one who profited from it.

Clarke signed the deed on that sale March 24, two days before councillors debated and approved the budget for the coming year.

Councillors said they should have been told about the sale and grilled the mayor, but Clarke said notification of council should have come from staff.

Last week, CBRM chief administrative officer Demetri Kachafanas told councillors they should have been given the information, but said council would have had no say in the deal anyway, because it had already been approved in 2015.

Gillespie said that argument made sense to him.

“I thought that the explanation that came from the CAO was more than enough,” he said.

Also, referring the issue to the RCMP seemed like a vote of non-confidence in CBRM’s employees, Gillespie said.

“We have a great staff and if something like this is put forward, then yes, maybe it does look like there may be a little less trust than there was before and I didn’t think it was appropriate.

“Council has to work with staff and it’s important for us to have a working relationship and a trust that we’re both working at the same goal, which is the betterment of the municipality.”

Mayor now ‘arms-length’ on deal

In an email, the RCMP said all police are independent investigators and the matter should first go to Cape Breton Regional Police.

“Should the police of jurisdiction confirm there are criminal allegations and require assistance, the RCMP would be available to assist.”

Clarke, who was an architect of the original deal in 2015 and yet voted last week to have RCMP investigate it, declined comment Friday.

“Our office is at arms-length on this matter; therefore, we are forwarding your request to the CBRM communication team, CAO and Solicitor’s office,” the mayor’s office said in an email.

Province will not review sale

CBRM staff later said they had received the RCMP’s response and notified council they intend to refer the matter to the regional police.

The Department of Municipal Affairs said in an email that it would not review the land sale.

“Municipalities are responsible for their own legal counsel and to ensure that the legislation and their own policies and procedures are followed,” said spokesperson Heather Fairbairn.

“The department does not provide legal advice or direction to municipalities on operational decisions.”

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