Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says neither she nor city council have the authority to ask for fellow councillor Sharmarke Dubow's resignation after he admitted to flying to East Africa over the holidays in contravention of COVID-19 advisories against non-essential travel. "It's unacceptable that a councillor showed such poor judgment and didn't follow the rules we are asking everyone else to follow," said Helps. In a statement Tueday, Dubow apologized, saying he travelled to East Africa over the holidays to visit family he had not since fleeing civil war in Somalia as a child in 1992. Dubow is now in quarantine at a Vancouver hotel, where he said he'd be serving his constituents virtually for the next two weeks. Helps said she had no knowledge of Dubow's trip before he left.

Source: CBC News January 06, 2021 22:17 UTC