DNV retains former privacy commissioner to review pigeon bylaw

District of North Vancouver has hired a former deputy attorney general and privacy commissioner to conduct a review of the events and processes that led to the adoption of the bylaw banning pigeons in DNV.

The independent review would be conducted by David Loukidelis and would take two months, DNV said.

The findings of the review and any recommendations stemming from it will be made public.

Loukidelis will review the actions of the council as a whole as well as of individual councillors in relation to the banning of pigeons. He will also review the policies and processes in place for how council members propose bylaws and amendments in general.

He will also review what training and support are available to council to promote understanding of conflict of interest and ethical obligations.

Besides serving as a deputy attorney general, he has served as deputy minister of justice, information and privacy commissioner of BC and registrar of lobbyists for BC.

Meanwhile, Kulwant Dulay, the only person affected by the ban on pigeons, has filed a petition with the BC Supreme Court to get the new bylaw quashed, according to a CBC report.

The decision to review the bylaw comes after weeks of discussion in the community about the actions of Councillor Betty Forbes. She had complained about the pigeons owned by her next-door neighbour Dulay before she was elected a councillor and later wanted a ban on them.

Forbes has called for better training on conflict of interest and freedom of information. She also said that she had followed the advice of staff and also took independent legal advice on her conduct.

“Out of an abundance of caution, I recused myself from the council discussion on the bylaw. It has always been my intention to act with integrity and in the best interest of the district, both as a private citizen and more recently as a councillor,” Forbes said.