4 of 5 councillors in RM of Armstrong resign, citing toxic work environment, leadership issues

Four of the five councillors in a Manitoba rural municipality stepped down from office this week, with some blaming a toxic work environment and leadership problems.

The RM's interim chief administrative officer, Nancy Howell, confirmed in an email to CBC News that RM of Armstrong councillors Paul Humeny, Ted Sumka, Pat Stein and Brent Dziadek sent resignation letters on Tuesday. 

That leaves Coun. Allen Pfrimmer and Reeve Kate Basford as the only remaining council members. 

Dziadek told CBC the four councillors resigned Tuesday at the end of a council meeting, and felt resigning was "the correct decision."

"[We felt] there was an issue with the leadership and that this was the correct way to solve the problem," Dziadek said. "It was a very difficult decision."

He did not elaborate on the leadership issues within council, but said the resignations were made in the hopes of helping ensure a solid future for the RM.

Dziadek said right now, he's burnt out and deciding on what to do next.

'Toxic work environment': former councillor

In a written statement to CBC, former Coun. Pat Stein said she was saddened that "good council members that love to serve their community are forced to step down in order to put a [halt] to the toxic work environment."

Stein's statement did not say what made the workplace toxic, but raised concerns the council's code of conduct was not being adhered to.

She did not cite specific code violations, but said failure to adhere to it results in "a long, expensive and drawn-out process."

"If council would have continued in this manner, I feel it would not have been in the best interest for our RM," Stein said.

Stein said workplace toxicity began in 2022, "almost immediately" after the municipal election. In addition to the four councillors who resigned this week, eight RM employees have also quit in the past year, she said.

CBC has asked the municipality for information about employee resignations and total staff.

'Can't deny' harassment in workplace: reeve

Basford, who was not at the Tuesday meeting, told CBC she's unclear why the councillors left, but acknowledged there have been problems in the RM.

"Has there been some issues? One hundred per cent," the reeve said.

"There's not much you can do. They've chosen to take that route," said Basford. "We're trying to rectify this as much as possible, and we're just waiting to hear from the government."

When asked about the toxic work environment, Basford said there has been workplace harassment at the municipality.

She said Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health has issued an improvement order for the RM, which is a written direction issued to address a violation of workplace safety and health laws.

"Has there been harassment in the workplace? Yeah, there has been. I can't deny that. That's public knowledge," said Basford.

"The work order is saying we needed to take some harassment training and that was all lined up."

Basford said there are "bigger issues at hand" in the municipality, but she is "not really at liberty to talk about" what those issues are.

Under the Municipal Act, if a council doesn't have enough members to meet quorum, the province can appoint an administrator for the municipality.

A provincial spokesperson told CBC News byelections will be planned soon.

The Municipal and Northern Relations department is working to appoint an administrator to ensure the day-to-day operations of the municipality continue, the spokesperson said.