Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson joined NL Newsday and Brett Mineer this afternoon to discuss why he recused himself from yesterday afternoon’s City Council meeting.

Since yesterday, NL News has learned that Hamer-Jackson was not allowed to attend a closed council meeting held earlier in the day, though he – and councillors in attendance at that meeting – are not able to disclose what was discussed.

The newly elected mayor started off Tuesday afternoon’s council meeting before turning over chair duties to Councillor Bill Sarai, the deputy mayor for the month of December.

Hamer-Jackson then left council chambers and watched the rest of the roughly 90 minute meeting online from his house.

Reid and Brett also discuss the details about another letter sent by the mayor’s personal lawyer, David McMillan, to lawyers for ASK Wellness, a copy of which can be found here.

This third letter comes after an initial letter dated Nov. 3, where lawyers for ASK Wellness asked Hamer-Jackson to stop making defamatory statements about the organization and its Chief Executive Officer, Bob Hughes, and a Nov. 7 response from the mayor’s lawyer asking ASK Wellness to identify the statements that were deemed to be defamatory, while also asking for the agency to make an apology.