Barb Gallant to be disqualified from Summerside council after missing 3 meetings

After Barb Gallant missed a third consecutive monthly meeting of Summerside council on Monday, her fellow councillors will vote on disqualifying her from holding office.

That vote will take place at a special meeting of Summerside council on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Gallant was charged in April with theft over $5,000 in connection to her work with the Lest We Forget Veterans Committee.

P.E.I.'s Municipal Government Act states that after missing three regularly scheduled council meetings, a councillor becomes disqualified from council. 

"That councillor then has the opportunity to resign their position and if they don't do so, then council would introduce a resolution to confirm the disqualification," said Summerside Mayor Dan Kutcher.

Summerside's CAO has reached out to Gallant to see whether she will submit her resignation, said Kutcher.

If council confirms the disqualification, it's effective immediately, and a by-election would have to be called within the next six months. 

Summerside officials had previously said any action against Gallant in connection with the charge would have to wait until the criminal matter is concluded.

But in a news release Tuesday morning, the city said it moved against Gallant under a different portion of the Municipal Government Act, section 98.4, that allows for disqualification if a council member is absent for three consecutive meetings. The act allows for exceptions if a councillor is ill or if fellow councillors approve a leave of absence.

• P.E.I.'s Municipal Government Act

Kutcher said he has no concerns about launching the disqualification process before the criminal matter is finished.

"We're following all the steps that we need to be following, as difficult as that can be from either side sometimes," he said. 

No role for province in matter

In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for P.E.I. Communities Minister Rob Lantz said the province doesn't need to intervene in the process at this point, and Summerside council has full authority to disqualify a councillor from holding office. 

"Section 98.4 disqualifies the councillor from holding office. However, if the councillor refuses to resign, as required under Section 99, the council may by resolution declare the seat vacant," the spokesperson said.

Kutcher said that until a new councillor is elected, he and other councillors will pitch in to represent the constituents in Gallant's Ward 5.

"At the end of the day [councillors] all have the obligations to represent and speak up for all members of the community," the mayor said.

The facts behind the charge against Gallant have not been proven in court. She appeared in court May 29, but asked for an adjournment to give her time to find a lawyer.

Gallant is scheduled to reappear in court Wednesday, June 19.