Taxpayers will foot the legal bill for Doug McCallum as he faces a public mischief charge related to claims he was hit by a car in September.
The City of Surrey confirmed by email on Monday it will pay for the mayor’s legal defence as per the terms of its indemnification bylaw.
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Kyla Lee, lawyer at Acumen Law in Vancouver, said that does not appear to apply to an offence like public mischief — which is neither a strict, nor an absolute liability offence.
“Offences of strict liability and absolute liability do not have a mental fault element associated to them,” she explained, “but the offence of public mischief specifically indicates that a person must intend to mislead the police in making the complaint.”