Publication date: Nov 15, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 4 min read 23 Comments Councilor Sean Chu is pictured during a council meeting in Council Chambers at Calgary City Hall on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia

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Mayor Jyoti Gondek dropped a bombshell on councilors at a special meeting Tuesday when she revealed Coun. Sean Chu took photos of her vehicle’s license plates – photos that later surfaced online.

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Chu did not deny the accusations and apologized during the meeting for his actions. Sign up to receive daily news headlines from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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The detail was revealed during a special meeting called to address Chu’s position on the vice mayor’s roster. Although a vote was scheduled to remove Chu from the program, he told the board he would voluntarily step down from the role. Councilors typically get month-long terms serving in the role, which includes attending special events to speak or stand in for the mayor as chair of council meetings. Media reports that emerged just before Election Day in October 2021 revealed that Chu, a Ward 4 councilor, had been reprimanded for inappropriate physical contact with a 16-year-old girl in 1997 while he was a police officer. Chu was found guilty of disparaging conduct under the Police Act at the time, but was never charged criminally.

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Gondek said she recently learned Chu would be chairing the Dec. 6 council meeting, which would have him recognize the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. “Not only am I loathe to allow this to happen based on the accepted disparaging behavior and other allegations surrounding Kuhn. Chu has further compromised my personal safety over the past year,” Gondek said. “Given that he took photographs of my number plate in a secure area, photographs which were later surfaced by a member of the public, I do not feel comfortable contacting Coun. Chu’s office or assign him the responsibilities of vice mayor.” The mayor took the unusual step of taking the city council into a private meeting to brief colleagues before breaking the news publicly.

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Chu admitted the charge. “I just want to publicly apologize to the mayor for what I’ve done,” Chu said. He said he did not want to “weary the public” with his reasoning, but that he would accept the punishment of being banned from the execution park. Councilors and the mayor have their own secure park which is separate from the public park. Chu also said he had already met with the council’s integrity office and taken a course dealing with “this particular issue”. He was not made available for questions from reporters after the meeting.

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The mayor said she rejected Chu’s apology. Speaking to reporters after the council meeting, Gondek said the photo of the sign came to her attention earlier this year after a member of the public received a copy and alerted her office via email. “I didn’t want an apology,” Godek said. “I want this man to be unable to do his job. I want him to resign.” Godek said she didn’t file a complaint with the integrity commissioner, but she knows one was made because of what he said at the meeting about his training. “So someone made the complaint,” Godek said. “I don’t know who he is, but I would imagine he was someone protecting corporate assets.” Mayor Jyoti Gondek is pictured during a council meeting in Council Chambers at Calgary City Hall on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia During the meeting, council also voted to advance a Calgary Police Commission review of investigations into the 1997 incident involving Chu in the premier’s office.

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The intention is for the prime minister’s office to refer the case to the most appropriate ministry and for the government to clearly outline whether they will take any further action and share their decision in “plain language”. Coun. Sonya Sharp asked if council could also send the matter of Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra’s integrity commissioner is reporting his undeclared property interests to the provincial government, to receive the same treatment. A review of the council’s previous direction on this matter required a two-thirds majority and the motion failed on a vote, with councilors Carra, Courtney Walcott, Richard Pootmans, Jasmine Mian, Kourtney Penner and Raj Dhaliwal opposed. Penner said she was a victim of sexual assault herself and broke down in tears as she talked about how the motion against Carra negated what the board was trying to accomplish in dealing with Chu. “When we start confusing issues and when we start piling things on top of each other, things lose their meaning,” Penner said. “I think what we just dealt with before that was important in itself, and how we are accountable to victims of sexual assault is important.” Walcott agreed, saying it was a mistake to confuse potential financial issues with sexual assault issues. “It is not the same as a police commission review and to pretend any of that is deeply offensive,” he said. — With files by Bill Kaufmann [email protected]: @brodie_thomas

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