'It's a very divided community': RM to hold byelection after mass council resignations

A rural community in southwestern Manitoba will cast votes for all three levels of government this fall, thanks to a mass resignation by the majority of its municipal council.

On Sept. 4, six days before the provincial election and seven weeks before the federal vote, the Rural Municipality of Norfolk Treherne will hold a byelection to fill four empty council seats.

Reeve Will Eert told CBC News the four holes on the seven-seat council were created after its members voted 4-3 to fire the RM's longtime chief administrative officer, Jackie Jenkinson, at a special council meeting on June 13.

Coun. Perry Delf quit the next day, according to the reeve. Dale Timmerman, Steve Nicholson and James Knockaert all stepped down from their seats the following Monday.

CBC has been unsuccessful in its attempts to contact the former councillors.

Eert declined to discuss the reasons for the removal of the CAO and subsequent resignations, citing personal and privacy reasons.

"It's all new territory for me and all we can do is the most we can do," Eert said.

First meeting chaired by new CAO

Jenkinson was replaced by interim CAO Roger Bouvier, who officially took over on July 2. One of his first duties was chairing the next regular meeting of council one week later, where dozens of constituents turned out to voice their concerns.

Among those who showed up at the municipal office in Treherne, 115 km west of Winnipeg, was former reeve Craig Spencer, who was defeated in the 2018 municipal election. He has been calling for Eert and the two remaining councillors to resign, so voters can elect a "full slate" of representatives.

Spencer estimates about 200 residents came out for Tuesday's meeting, which he said is out of character for the normally reserved people in the rural farming community.

"People don't like to stick their necks out," he said, noting many in the area are clearly riled up about recent events.

Eert's estimate of Tuesday's turnout was closer to 100, but he said afterward he was pleased to see so many passionate constituents show up — until the scene turned sour.

"It's a very divided community," the reeve said when reached by phone after the meeting.

Once the meeting was over, Eert said the atmosphere became increasingly "polarized," with residents pointing fingers and calling each other names.

"It's good for us to know what our residents are thinking (but) they were getting quite heated," he said. 

"It was actually very disappointing to me."

The reeve said none of the municipal office staff have been showing up to work since Jenkinson's dismissal, although one person quit for "legitimate reasons."

Eert said he and the remaining two councillors intend to continue as council "caretakers" until the four vacant seats are filled.

Province rules three meets quorum

Provincial rules would normally require the Norfolk Treherne municipal council to include a council head and six council members — two elected from each of municipality's three wards. But Manitoba's Department of Municipal Affairs has ruled the altered council, consisting of the reeve and two remaining councillors, is legitimate.

"The Municipal Act permits quorum to be reduced in circumstances where vacancies have arisen on council," the department said in a written statement.

"In this situation, the remaining members will still have quorum at meetings if all attend, and may continue to act as council and make decisions on behalf of the municipality by majority vote with a minimum of two members in favour."

The statement says the municipal council has "been encouraged to take steps to hold the necessary byelections as soon as reasonably possible to restore the municipality's full governance capacity."

Nominations for candidates who wish to run in the fall byelection are open from July 24 to July 30.