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By Susan McNeil

City Hall

Business group gets 154 signatures in petition for city audit

Jan 24, 2023 | 12:50 PM

A business advocacy group calling for a forensic audit of city finances got just over 150 signatures in an online petition effort over the last 90 days.

The Prince Albert Business Advocacy Group, headed by local business owner and former councillor Evert Botha, launched the petition about three months ago.

“We are grateful for the thousands of individuals who have signed the petitions, and though we may not have reached the threshold required within the prescribed 90-day period, we’re most certainly not giving up on our commitment to our stakeholders — our supporters,” said the group on its social media feed.

The group has several goals, including pushing the city for more public consultation on some decisions and “more opportunity for concerned residents, businesses, and community-based organizations to speak to matters on the agenda.”

The online petition is directed toward three provincial cabinet ministers including Finance Minister Donna Harpauer, Government Relations Minister Don McMorris and Minister of Public Safety, Christine Tell.

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Botha also launched a lawsuit against city hall and Coun. Dawn Kilmer in late 2022, alleging that Kilmer accepted a benefit from the Prince Albert Raiders through free hockey game tickets and also voting when council made decisions to proceed with the new arena project.

The Raiders said no board members get free tickets and Kilmer stepped down from her position with the team about one week after first being elected to council.

When asked, Mayor Greg Dionne said the lawsuit has not moved forward.

As for what’s next, Botha says the group will be making some additional announcements in the coming weeks and did not provide any other comment.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com