Peter Kelly, Mayor of the Halifax Regional Municipality, in his office at city Hall, NS, June 23, 2011.
These are trying times for Peter Kelly, who has been Halifax's mayor for nearly a dozen years. He is attempting to stickhandle a three-week-old transit strike. He faces a fall election – he hasn't said if he's running yet – and trails a strong opponent by a wide margin in the polls.
Now Halifax is buzzing over allegations that Mr. Kelly took more than $160,000 from the $500,000 estate of a long-time elderly friend, Mary Thibeault, and with questions of why, seven years after her death, the will has not been settled.
These questions were first posed last week in The Coast, a free weekly newspaper. The paper conducted an 11-month investigation into the mayor's involvement as the executor and trustee of Ms. Thibeault's estate, and his alleged failure to properly inform the 12 other individuals and five charities who were named as beneficiaries in her will. It detailed alleged transactions involving Mr. Kelly that took place after her 2004 death, including allegations that a $15,000 cheque was given to his then 14-year-old son. That cheque was later reversed, The Coast reported.
The mayor had a long relationship with Ms. Thibeault, lasting more than 30 years, according to another newspaper report. As a boy he mowed her lawn at the hotel she and her late husband owned in Bedford, a Halifax suburb. Their friendship continued until her death – he even drove her home from Florida, where she spent winters. And she named him the executor of her estate, the report said.
Mr. Kelly is not responding to the current allegations. He gave a one-minute interview on Monday, saying it was a "private and personal matter." On Tuesday he missed a council meeting, leaving it to the deputy mayor to tell reporters, who were waiting to question him about the Thibeault estate, that he had received a call saying the mayor had meetings elsewhere.
A call to the mayor's office was answered by a woman, who would not give her name but described herself as the "hired help." She repeated that Mr. Kelly has said this is a personal matter and to talk to his lawyer. A call to his lawyer's office resulted in a message saying he is out of town until Monday.
Some of the heirs have engaged a lawyer to deal with the matter. But they are also remaining tightlipped. One of them, Catherine Ivany, who was reached by The Globe and Mail, would not comment, saying this was "under the direction of our lawyer."
Asked to talk about her friend, Ms. Thibeault, who left both her and her husband, Raymond, 5 per cent of her estate, Mrs. Ivany again refused to say anything. She said they needed a lawyer because they don't understand all of the "legal ramifications." Their lawyer would not return calls from The Globe.
This is not the first time Mr. Kelly has felt the political heat. Last spring he took a beating over the so-called "cash-for-concert" scandal, in which it was revealed that for years public funds had been secretly advanced to a music promoter. A subsequent report by Halifax Auditor Larry Munroe blamed "many people" for the mess that left the city on the hook for more than $350,000, saying Mr. Kelly and a former senior bureaucrat should have been more diligent.
The mayor's penchant for holding in camera council meetings has also led to much criticism.
Mr. Kelly has not said yet whether he will seek re-election. But if he does, he faces a serious challenge from former Dartmouth Liberal MP Mike Savage, who has already declared. A recent newspaper poll had Mr. Savage with 53 per cent compared to Mr. Kelly's 25 per cent.
But some observers are saying not to count out Mr. Kelly. A savvy politician, he is known to show up where his support is, even handing out candy from a grocery bag. And he knows how to get out the vote.