 Heaps had refused the reimbursement for the defamation lawsuit but still accepted the reimbursement for the compliance audit action, although he played no role in the council meeting where this took place.Instead he chose to excuse himself from the meeting so as not display any interest in the matter.In July 2010, the Divisional Court ruled that City Council had no authority to reimburse Heaps since he was a candidate at the time and not yet a councillor.