A years'-long legal battle between a Calgary business executive and former city councillor and current NDP candidate Druh Farrell (Calgary-Bow) is headed back to court at the end of the month..Lawyers for Mike Terrigno want Farrell held in contempt of court on May 26 for allegedly hiding and destroying evidence relating to the lawsuit about how she abused her position on Calgary city council to try and shut down his Stampede party tent..They want Farrell fined $15,000 for contempt..Terrigno said Farrell "loathed" the party tent, located close to her Kensington home, because the loud music kept her up at night and made it difficult to park. It is all part of a larger lawsuit where Farrell has said she does not recall "referring to the Plaintiffs, who are of Italian heritage, as being members of the mafia and gangsters.".The lawsuit has two parts..The first part seeks a declaration Farrell breached the pecuniary interest rules under the Municipal Government Act and should have been disqualified as a member of council. The second part involves a claim of defamation in which Farrell made discriminatory statements against the Terrignos.."The Defendant gave intentionally false and misleading evidence under oath in this Action in her Questioning conducted on March 7, 2019, and March 6, 2023," said a statement filed in Court of King's Bench on Friday and obtained by the Western Standard..The claim said Farrell "intentionally concealed and/or destroyed inculpatory records.".Terringo claims Farrell's "motive to act in a deceitful manner was purely self-serving given the severity of the relief sought by the Plaintiffs in seeking the Defendant’s removal from public office." .Terringo's claim says a FOIP search discovered an additional 1,500 pages "of records that the Defendant concealed that are relevant and material to this Action."."In fact, the Defendant influenced the unlawful termination of Stan Schwartzenberger, the director of the Calgary planning department who could have denied permitting of the event, but who refused to succumb to the Defendant’s improper political interference. Mr. Schwartzenberger successfully sued the City of Calgary for roughly $640,000, due to the Defendant’s political interference that resulted in his unlawful termination," said the claim. ."Given that it was roughly three years into the litigation when the Plaintiffs discovered that the Defendant was concealing and/or destroying relevant records, significant delays occurred in the Plaintiffs’ application for the Defendant to be removed from office which allowed the Defendant to remain in public office."."The Plaintiffs take the position that the Defendant intentionally destroyed the records because the FOIP requests were made in 2018, (the time at which the Defendant’s public records were seized and protected by the City of Calgary FOIP process). .In April 2022, the Western Standard exclusively revealed Calgary taxpayers had shelled out $158,000 in Farrell's legal tab, including $51,000 for one morning session in court. .Farrell spent 20 years on Calgary city council from 2001-2021..The Western Standard has reached out to Farrell for comment but the NDP and their candidates refuse to speak to the Western Standard.
A years'-long legal battle between a Calgary business executive and former city councillor and current NDP candidate Druh Farrell (Calgary-Bow) is headed back to court at the end of the month..Lawyers for Mike Terrigno want Farrell held in contempt of court on May 26 for allegedly hiding and destroying evidence relating to the lawsuit about how she abused her position on Calgary city council to try and shut down his Stampede party tent..They want Farrell fined $15,000 for contempt..Terrigno said Farrell "loathed" the party tent, located close to her Kensington home, because the loud music kept her up at night and made it difficult to park. It is all part of a larger lawsuit where Farrell has said she does not recall "referring to the Plaintiffs, who are of Italian heritage, as being members of the mafia and gangsters.".The lawsuit has two parts..The first part seeks a declaration Farrell breached the pecuniary interest rules under the Municipal Government Act and should have been disqualified as a member of council. The second part involves a claim of defamation in which Farrell made discriminatory statements against the Terrignos.."The Defendant gave intentionally false and misleading evidence under oath in this Action in her Questioning conducted on March 7, 2019, and March 6, 2023," said a statement filed in Court of King's Bench on Friday and obtained by the Western Standard..The claim said Farrell "intentionally concealed and/or destroyed inculpatory records.".Terringo claims Farrell's "motive to act in a deceitful manner was purely self-serving given the severity of the relief sought by the Plaintiffs in seeking the Defendant’s removal from public office." .Terringo's claim says a FOIP search discovered an additional 1,500 pages "of records that the Defendant concealed that are relevant and material to this Action."."In fact, the Defendant influenced the unlawful termination of Stan Schwartzenberger, the director of the Calgary planning department who could have denied permitting of the event, but who refused to succumb to the Defendant’s improper political interference. Mr. Schwartzenberger successfully sued the City of Calgary for roughly $640,000, due to the Defendant’s political interference that resulted in his unlawful termination," said the claim. ."Given that it was roughly three years into the litigation when the Plaintiffs discovered that the Defendant was concealing and/or destroying relevant records, significant delays occurred in the Plaintiffs’ application for the Defendant to be removed from office which allowed the Defendant to remain in public office."."The Plaintiffs take the position that the Defendant intentionally destroyed the records because the FOIP requests were made in 2018, (the time at which the Defendant’s public records were seized and protected by the City of Calgary FOIP process). .In April 2022, the Western Standard exclusively revealed Calgary taxpayers had shelled out $158,000 in Farrell's legal tab, including $51,000 for one morning session in court. .Farrell spent 20 years on Calgary city council from 2001-2021..The Western Standard has reached out to Farrell for comment but the NDP and their candidates refuse to speak to the Western Standard.
