Northern community reacts after mayor and council booted by the province
Black River-Matheson no longer has a sitting town council, after it failed to meet for more than 60 days due to lack of attendance.
The province disbanded council yesterday and the town will now have to hold a new election.
Town hall has had an empty council chamber since January — and now it will stay that way until residents elect a new mayor and six new councillors.
A coalition of three now-former councillors forced the move by boycotting meetings, saying it was either this or living with a “broken” council.
“We couldn’t get results, we couldn’t get proper guidance from our staff,” said former councillor Dave Dyment.
“Mismatched information out of our reports and untimely reports. We just felt that we weren’t running the town and that the town was actually running us.”
This comes after high tensions in the community over a 34 per cent tax increase, the ongoing municipal worker strike and three councillors resigning in the last year.
Black River-Matheson no longer has a sitting town council, after it failed to meet for more than 60 days due to lack of attendance. (Photo from video)
Former Mayor Doug Bender was not available for comment, but the vacant council chamber comes with mixed reactions.
“I do not believe that they ran for (office) to end up here, I really don’t,” said Timiskaming-Cochrane MPP John Vanthof.
“And so we have to look deeper to see why, why they ended up here.”
Vanthof said while he’s seen unrest within councils before, he hasn’t seen Matheson’s level of public bitterness.
Byelection will be held
Now without a mayor, Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, will appoint someone to take over council duties for the time being.
“An appointee will be in place until the byelection is complete and a new council is in place,” Calandra wrote in a letter.
“The appointee will exercise the duties and obligations of council in an accountable and transparent manner.”
No word on when the byelection will take place, but Dyment is hoping more people will run than last time, when everyone but himself ran unopposed.
“That way, we’re getting a broader spectrum of people to choose from,” he said.
“Difference of views from different councillors, so we’re not falling into the exact same position.”
Dyment said the new council’s priorities will have to start with transparency, positivity and solving the town’s immediate issues.
And he said he would like to be part of that council -- as the community’s next mayor.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
A look back on Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season: Preparing for potential challenges in 2024
By the end of the 2023 wildfire season in Alberta, 1,088 wildfires had burned more than 2.2 million hectares of land, and this year, the wildfire season is already in full swing.
Video appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs beating singer Cassie in hotel hallway in 2016
Security video aired by CNN appears to show Sean 'Diddy' Combs physically assaulting singer Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway in 2016.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta border: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Anglers reel in 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off coast of Florida: 'She found my bait'
A group of fishers said it took roughly 20 minutes to reel in this 3.5-metre-long tiger shark off the coast of Florida.
Australia's richest woman seeks removal of her portrait from exhibition
Art is subjective. And while many artists long to share their work with the world, there's no guarantee that the audience will understand it, or even like it.
Scottie Scheffler isn't the first pro golfer to be arrested during a tournament
Scottie Scheffler's arrest hours before his second-round tee time at the PGA Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, will go down as one of the most shocking in professional golf history. It certainly wasn't the first, though.
Canadian convicted of attacking Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer sentenced to 30 years
The man convicted of attempting to kidnap then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacking her husband with a hammer was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison.