Peter J. Kelly - Criticisms

Criticisms

Kelly was criticized for the failure of the city's Harbour Solutions sewage treatment plant which has faced delays and breakdowns.

More serious criticism followed a $400,000 loan of public money for a Black Eyed Peas concert in 2010 which was not approved by HRM council or reviewed by the city's legal department. The loan was not repaid when the promoter went out of business. In what became known in Halifax as the "commons concert scandal", the region's Auditor General found serious problems with the decision-making process and book-keeping for the concert loan to Power Promotional Events. The city was eventually able to recover much of the loan but is still owed approximately $359,550 from the deal.

Kelly is also criticized for his performance as the executor of the will of 91-year-old Mary Thibeault who died in 2004 but whose estate has still not been settled. Kelly was appointed as executor by Nova Scotia's probate court as requested in Thibeault's will. Kelly is one of 18 heirs to the estate of about half a million dollars. The other heirs, who are mostly elderly, have waited nearly seven years for resolution of the probate case. Such estates typically are resolved in 18 months. Kelly has reportedly ignored letters from the court, had to be prodded with court orders and by letters from elderly relatives of Thibeault and still has not met his responsibility as a court-appointed executor. Kelly said that resolution of the estate is a personal matter. Kelly has also been suspected of transferring $161,587.13 from Thibeault's account, funds which are not accounted for on the inventory of her assets filed with probate court. An inventory which Kelly failed to file until a court order was issued August 8, 2005. Although The Coast independent newspaper has been publishing the story for almost a year, mainstream media failed to pick up on the issue until recently.

Kelly's role in the eviction of the NS Occupy Protests on Remembrance Day 2011 has caused controversy. Occupy protesters agreed to temporarily move out of Halifax's Grand Parade for the Remembrance Day ceremony and shifted their camp to Victoria Park. Though Kelly stated that he supported and respected the cooperation of protesters, offering an alternative location for the protest camp, but also supported the eviction and arrest of 14 protesters just minutes after the close of the Remembrance Day ceremonies. The eviction was approved by HRM council in a closed-door meeting chaired by Kelly on November 8. The decision to evict the protesters on a holiday weekend cost Halifax taxpayers an extra $106,000 in overtime costs. In response to charges that the city betrayed the trust of an agreement between the city, veterans and Occupy NS, Kelly stated that the decision was up to council and the eviction was an operational police matter.