By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
A former senior director at the Town of Osoyoos, Gina MacKay, has been suspended from the Planning Institute of British Columbia (PIBC) and is undergoing disciplinary action following an investigation by the professional body.
Mackay admitted her misconduct while carrying out her duties for the Town in the role of Director of Planning and Development Services after an investigation was launched following the filing of an official complaint against her in 2023.
In its January 22, 2025 ruling MacKay’s membership in the Planning Institute of British Columbia was suspended for a period of six months and other disciplinary action was imposed following an investigation by the PIBC’s Professional Conduct Review Committee which is responsible for overseeing and administering the professional body’s Code of Professional Conduct.
According to Planning West, the quarterly news magazine of the PIBC, the Institute received a complaint regarding the conduct of a planner employed by a local government in a senior capacity.
While the complainant was not identified, Gina MacKay was named with the allegation that she had been in an “undisclosed conflict of interest with a local developer by entering into a financial relationship on favourable terms for rental and subsequent purchase of a property from them.”
The investigation concluded she had violated four sections and two sub-sections of the code of conduct, including the requirement that its members have a “keen sense of responsibility to their profession and employers and the public,” ensuring “timely and full disclosure to a client or employer of a possible conflict of interest arising from the member’s private or professional activities”.
MacKay was also deemed to have violated the section dictating members, “Not offer or accept any financial or other inducement including prospective employment, that could, or could appear to, influence or affect professional opportunities or planning advice.”
A Times Chronicle investigation has uncovered details that potentially prompted the original complaint, investigation and subsequent disciplinary action.
MacKay purchased a home in the Meadowlark subdivision, 15 per cent of which was designated as being “near-market pricing”, on July 21, 2023 after she had been renting the premises for an unknown period of time. The property was purchased by MacKay for $570,000.
A land title search indicates MacKay purchased the property through a mortgage from Meadowlark developer Cherry Lake Enterprises Ltd., a company in which Hartmut Buckendahl has ownership.
The Meadowlands subdivision was being developed by Ellcar Ventures Ltd. during an earlier phase and a related company Cherry Lake Enterprises for later phases, a project that first began in July, 2016. Ellcar is owned by the father-daughter team of Buckendahl and his daughter Penny Potts. The properties are being marketed and sold on behalf of these companies by lead real estate agent, Eileen McGinn from Osoyoos.
McGinn stated that neither herself nor the brokerage Remax was involved in this sale. She elaborated further that it did not go through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a database and system used by real estate professionals to share information about properties for sale.
Further research reveals that MacKay obtained a mortgage for the Meadowlark property for $599,186.05 from Cherry Lake Enterprises Ltd.
The mortgage raises certain questions. According to BC Land Title documents MacKay was granted the mortgage with a zero per cent interest rate. Secondly, there was no down payment noted in the documents and thirdly the amount of the mortgage appears to include GST of $28,500 (five per cent of $570,000 purchase price) and possibly closing costs of $686.05.
Foremost however, is the fact that the head of planning for the town at the time made the purchase through a mortgage from the developer and under – by most measures – what would be considered favourable terms.
The revelations from the PIBC and its professional review committee confirms much of the speculation that had been circulating around town in the summer and fall of 2023 about the sudden departure of MacKay. The Times Chronicle had made earlier attempts to clarify the situation but was unable to determine key facts due to employee privacy constraints.
Attempts to contact MacKay from about late July through August 2023 were met with little success as she was often not in the office. On September 27, 2023 the Times Chronicle was made aware that MacKay had resigned, two months after the house purchase.
She then found employment at TRUE Consulting as a senior planner. TRUE Consulting has a long history of contracts with the Town of Osoyoos – and recently saw the town signing a “Master Standing Offer Agreement” with the Kamloops-based company. While in the employ of TRUE it’s unlikely MacKay worked on any files relating to Osoyoos as the town only taps the engineering side of the consultancy.
When asked for the specific dates MacKay worked at the consulting firm, a TRUE Consulting human resources manager said “I can confirm that Gina worked here for a while, and that’s all I can confirm.” MacKay’s LinkedIn account indicates she joined TRUE in November 2023 and left the company six months later in May 2024. Since that time she has been “self employed” according to her LinkedIn.
When asked for comment on the latest developments, including whether the town is concerned about any other files that were in MacKay’s control while in the employ of the Town, Rod Risling, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the Town of Osoyoos said, “I cannot comment on personnel issues.” As to the role left vacant by McKay he said “ We were unsuccessful in our recruitment efforts to fill the vacancy of Director of Planning and Development Services as a town employee, and requested support from the RDOS. They are now contracted for our town planning services functions.”
Questions still remain including those around the developer’s role in offering such generous terms to MacKay. When contacted by the Times Chronicle, Buckendahl declined to comment on the advice of his lawyer.
As for the disciplinary action, Planning West noted that the investigating case officers recommended that the matter be resolved by means of “consent discipline” according to the Institute’s bylaws. This involves MacKay admitting the breaches of the Code and successfully completing the national Professional Standards Board (PSB) ethics and professionalism course. The terms also include a six month suspension from membership and prohibition of using the RPP and MCIP professional designations and title of registered professional planner and a summary of the suspension to be published in the Planning West publication.
The Times Chronicle spoke to MacKay, whose house is now listed for sale by McGinn, but she declined to comment.
In its conclusion the PIBC emphasized that “members must identify and disclose – to their client or employer – any potential conflict of interest that might arise from any third-party relationship or interaction.
“Being in a possible conflict of interest is not necessarily a breach of the Code; however, not appropriately disclosing a potential conflict of interest is. Once notified, the client or employer can then appropriately manage the real or perceived conflict of interest.”
With files by Sherani Theophilus.
