Saskatchewan Government Relations Minister Jim Reiter says he is shocked at the findings of a government report into the actions of the Rural Municipality of Sherwood, just southeast of Regina.
It involves a housing development on a parcel of land owned by the reeve.
At issue is conflict of interest, personal gain, lack of transparency and possibly even criminal charges.
“Honestly, when I read the final report I was shocked and somewhat disgusted,” Reiter says.
The government relations minister says the government has moved to take immediate action including removing Reeve Kevin Eberle from office and putting in place plans for a by-election by October of this year.
The report finds Eberle stood to gain about $57 million dollars if the development deal went through.
Reiter says a lot of money is at stake but the real issue is public trust.
“I think it is very important that quick decisive action needs to be taken and needs to send a message to everybody, municipal officials and the general public alike, that this government will not condone this kind of action and sit quietly by, we will take action.”
The Department of Justice has already reviewed the file and forwarded it to the RCMP to see if criminal charges are warranted.
For his part, Reiter says the government has more concerns than simply the actions of Eberle.
“I am very concerned about the conduct of the council over the past few weeks. I am going to be relying on the interim reeve and the interim administrator to advise me and anything that I am announcing today does not preclude further action.”