What Are They Hiding?

Just before Christmas the MH Owl received some of the information we asked for in April 2024. One of the items was from the Mayor’s Ask.

“a. the basic terms of all severance agreements, including the precise sums, the date of the severance agreements, and the job title or position of the individual severed. For your reference, please see County of Vermilion River #24 (Re), Order F2007-025 (oipc.ab.ca).”

We got a bunch of Severance Agreements but without

• Precise sums

• Dates of severance agreements

• Job title or position

We have no idea if we even have the records we asked before because there are no dates!

The document link is posted on the front page of our website.

They buried other information in the middle of it of the multi page severance agreements. What is very concerning is the Disparagement Clause which reads

5. NON-DISPARAGEMENT

The Releasor agrees that she will not in any way disparage the Releasee and will not make any comments, statements or the like that may be considered to be harmful or derogatory or detrimental to the good name or reputation or standing in the community of the Releasee.

Every severance agreement has a confidentiality clause which means you cannot divulge the secrets of the entity you worked for - totally reasonable. Not being able to speak ill of the company you worked for even if they treated you like trash is chilling. These severance agreements also penalize the worker for speaking ill of the City or its workers. The City holds the severance package over their heads until the Non Disclosure is signed, sealed and delivered.

Developing Story - more to come.

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