STELLARTON – Stellarton councilor George Megeney, who chairs the town’s police commission, says the town will be working on reaching a settlement with Ambrose Heighton for the pay he should have received between the period he was fired in 2008 and December 2012 when he started back to work.
This comes after last week’s decision by Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Nick Scaravelli that the Police Review Board was within its rights when it ruled that Heighton should be reinstated at one rank lower than that of chief.
“The decision of the Supreme Court justice brings an end to what has been a long and difficult period in the administration of the Stellarton Police Department as well as for Mr. Heighton,” Megeney said.
He said the next step will be for a settlement to be reached for the time Heighton was away from work and from there they will move forward to provide the best possible police service for the town.
“From the very beginning of this matter the police commission and council of the day and also the present members acted in good faith based on recommendations and legal advice provided to them,” he said
He was unsure how long it will take to finalize the settlement.
“Hopefully it’ll be sooner than later,” he said.
The town’s lawyer, Hector MacIsaac said he will wait to get formal direction from the town, that that is what they intend to do.
The firing was unjust, just because Mayor & Council "didn't know it" at the time doesn't mean they should be off the hook for paying Mr. Heighton the lost wages. Amby wasn't the one who dragged these proceedings on ad nausea, you can thank the good ol' boys club of Stellarton for that. Now they can pay the price for their stubbornness.