Sean Chu says he will not resign amid mounting criticism

Ward Four Incumbent Councillor Sean Chu has announced he will not be stepping down amid growing concerns regarding two incidents that happened while he was still a police officer.

Chu has admitted that he was disciplined for inappropriate sexual contact with an underage girl while he was with the Calgary Police Service (CPS) in 1997, however, no criminal charges were laid.

On Wednesday, CPS Chief Mark Neufeld addressed that incident and a new, damning story from the CBC which claims Chu was involved in a domestic incident with his wife that involved a firearm and resulted in a police response back in 2008.

Several politicians, including mayor-elect Jyoti Gondek, have called for Chu to resign his position, with Gondek announcing Thursday she won’t participate in swearing Chu in at the ceremony on Monday.

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On Thursday, Chu addressed the media for the first time since the election and wanted to straighten out the stories he has been seeing in the media.

“As Chief Neufeld stated yesterday, a thorough investigation was done, it was passed to an external crown prosecutor’s office in Edmonton and no charges were laid,” Chu said.

The incumbent councillor then described the heavily discussed incident from 1997 that has had people calling for his resignation.

Chu says he and his partner had done a routine walkthrough of the Kings Head Pub on Macleod Trail when he met a woman and agreed to return after his shift.

In plainclothes and off-duty, Chu says he returned around 2:15 a.m. to the establishment that was licensed and for adults only and met the woman again — at which point they went back to Chu’s home.

“At my house, we engaged in some consensual touching. At one point, she did not wish to continue, and I respected her wishes and drove her home,” Chu explained.

He says there have been allegations that he met the girl in an unlicensed location and he used a firearm in the incident.

“This is categorically false.

“In fact, I left my service weapon in my locker at work, as was my usual practice.”

As for the incident in 2008, Chu says he had verbal arguments with his former wife and, in this particular incident, she had gone to the neighbour for help to calm Chu down and police were called.

“I did have a rifle secure in the basement. It was not retrieved from this storage location, it was not used, and was not used to threaten my family,” Chu explained.

He says it is police procedure to seize any firearm if there is any prospect it may be used to hurt someone.

“After that, after this incident, I chose to seek counselling for my mental health and stress. This incident was investigated and no charges were laid.

“This was a private family matter.”

After giving his statement on Thursday, Chu was asked about his reaction to other councillors calling for his resignation.

Councillor Sean Chu says he will not resign and refutes much of the information that has been spread in the media. Here is what he says about working with councillors who want him to resign. #yyccc #yyc pic.twitter.com/QV7uYPfpq4

— Tara Overholt (@CityTara) October 21, 2021

“I would suggest to them that, you have only heard the media, and some stuff in the media is not factual, and if they want, my offer is this, including the mayor, all council members, if they want to know the facts, please let me know,” Chu said. “I will sit down with them in private, and I will answer any questions they might have.”

As for comments on social media calling for Chu to resign, he says, “I was duly elected by the people of ward four, and I intend to stay at this position, to serve the people of ward four.”