Kamloops mayor recruits councillor’s brother in defamation suit

Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson continues his legal campaign against a fellow councillor and has now brought her brother into the lawsuit.

Two years after he filed in court, Hamer-Jackson submitted evidence in an effort to support his claims Coun. Katie Neustaeter defamed him. Her brother, Marshall Krueger, offered his opinions in court last week in support of the mayor.

Krueger said Neustaeter’s public comments about the mayor in March 2023 suggested Hamer-Jackson “behaved in some kind of sexually inappropriate manner.”

Neustaeter’s lawyer Daniel Reid responded briefly to Krueger’s affidavit in court last week after it was filed the same day, objecting to its inclusion in the hearing at all.

He said Krueger’s comments offered no evidence and instead relied on opinions and “general observations” about Neustaeter’s character. Neustaeter’s legal team later submitted screenshots of several lengthy social media posts in which Krueger criticizes city councillors, including multiple specific criticisms about Neustaeter’s character.

Neustaeter’s March 2023 comments are at the heart of the civil suit in which Hamer-Jackson alleges she defamed him. Those comments were also part of a joint statement on behalf of all city councillors, accusing the mayor of bullying people and “breaching personal and professional boundaries” at city hall.

Hamer-Jackson claims the statement tarnished his reputation and implied sexual misconduct. Neustaeter, however, said that was not the intent of the joint statement and a code of conduct investigation later dismissed his concerns of being labelled a “pervert” due to the statement.

It’s the second time Hamer-Jackson roped Neustaeter’s family members into the lawsuit as he claims the saga dates back to when he was elected and Neustaeter’s father, Kevin Krueger, approached him and later called to arrange a meeting. Kevin Krueger, a former MLA and cabinet minister, later backed out of the meeting and Hamer-Jackson never got an explanation. Kevin told iNFOnews.ca he decided Hamer-Jackson was “too erratic” and chose not to get involved in city hall matters.

In the lead-up to the March 2023 news conference, Neustaeter asked Hamer-Jackson on multiple occasions not to “harass” her family as Hamer-Jackson attempted to reschedule a meeting with Kevin Krueger, while telling Neustaeter and council he had information about her family.

It was his attempts to bring council family members into city hall matters that led to the accusation Hamer-Jackson breached “personal and professional boundaries.”

The mayor has submitted multiple affidavits since last week’s hearing where the mayor was allowed to delay the case for a third time.

Now with his third lawyer on the same case, Hamer-Jackson is tasked with arguing the case has merit at all, while Neustaeter seeks to convince a judge to toss it as illegitimate.

She will argue the defamation suit is merely an effort to silence her political speech and criticisms of the mayor.

It’s the first of two defamation lawsuits filed since the 2022 election by a mayor who has faced dozens of investigations surrounding his treatment of people at city hall and privacy breaches, beginning within weeks of taking office.

The second involves claims a local developer accused him of sexual misconduct more directly, though the comments weren’t publicly known until Hamer-Jackson’s defamation lawsuit was filed.