Three years after winning a legal appeal against the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, the area’s mayor has filed litigation to recover costs from the court battle that followed a coup by a group of former councillors.
Mayor Joy Sul filed a statement of claim against the RM north of Winnipeg on June 30, seeking indemnity for nearly $50,000 in legal fees she incurred while fighting council’s attempts to strip her of key responsibilities.
“Several years ago, I went to court because I believed the actions being taken against me were wrong and contrary to municipal law,” Sul said in a statement to the Free Press Monday.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Joy Sul, mayor of the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews.
“I want to be very clear about one thing: I am not seeking a windfall, damages, or any personal financial gain. I am simply seeking reimbursement for the legal costs I actually incurred while successfully defending my elected position.”
The mayor, who was elected in that role in 2018, found herself in disagreement with five council colleagues one year later over a wastewater treatment project for which she was a vocal opponent.
The situation escalated when the group of councillors voted to enact a bylaw that prevented Sul from chairing council meetings and acting as the municipality’s spokesperson.
She retaliated with legal action weeks later, arguing the councillors acted outside their authority, violated the Municipal Act and breached a duty of fairness owed to her.
Sul lost her initial claim but later won on appeal in 2023, when Manitoba’s highest court ruled in her favour. The bylaw was struck down and her powers were restored.
None of the councillors involved in the legal battle remain in office, except for Sul, who was re-elected in 2022.
In July 2024, Sul submitted an indemnification request to the RM to recover legal costs she was “forced to undertake at great personal upfront expense,” the new lawsuit says.
“Defending my position as mayor came at a significant personal cost. I paid those legal bills myself because I believed it was important to stand up for the office that the residents of St. Andrews elected me to hold,” Sul said in her statement.
“I was the only member of council elected by the people of this municipality at large and I was given the mandate to chair and lead the elected councillors.”
Her claim says the RM of St. Andrews did not respond to the request until June 9, when the municipal council unanimously shot it down in a vote.
Sul said she was disappointed by that decision.
“I never wanted to be back in court. I made efforts to resolve this matter without further litigation, but I have been left with no other practical option than to ask the court to determine whether the municipality must meet what I believe to be their legal obligations,” she said.
Her claim argues the defendants acted “without any regard to procedural fairness or natural justice” and cites a provision in the Municipal Act that outlines the rules of indemnity for council members who successfully defend themselves in legal proceedings.
“The council and the municipality were biased against the plaintiff and have at many times acted in inappropriate, divisive and hostile manners toward her,” the claim says.
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Sul is seeking a declaration that council’s vote to dismiss her application for indemnity violated the Municipal Act and is therefore void.
She asked the courts to order council to reconsider the decision and to provide them with judicial directions outlining their obligations under the act.
The RM of St. Andrews declined to comment Monday.
Court records show the RM has not filed a statement of defence.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
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