{"id":20103,"date":"2022-02-16T14:41:03","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T18:41:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=20103"},"modified":"2022-02-28T12:22:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T16:22:10","slug":"in-a-tense-meeting-sackville-council-turns-down-two-motions-to-slow-down-amalgamation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/in-a-tense-meeting-sackville-council-turns-down-two-motions-to-slow-down-amalgamation\/","title":{"rendered":"In a tense meeting, Sackville council turns down two motions to slow down amalgamation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a>
Sackville town council in session on Monday, February 14, 2022. Image: Youtube screencap<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Things move quickly in the world of New Brunswick municipal reform, and on Monday two Sackville town councillors took a stab at slowing that down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillor Bill Evans presented his motion calling for a boycott of the amalgamation process, instructing staff and councillors not to engage in advisory committees set up by the province. Evans argued that it would be more effective to protest the forced amalgamation by making the province “do their own dirty work.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Remember, they’ve only got one facilitator [for] five amalgamations,” said Evans. “They can’t do our amalgamation without our help. So let’s not help them. Let’s try to shame the bully and say, maybe we can’t stop you, but we’ll be damned if we will help you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right off the bat, CAO Jamie Burke reacted with a strong message of alarm. Burke said he consulted with the town\u2019s lawyer about the motion, and was paraphrasing from that conversation when he spoke to council Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burke made that case that Evans\u2019 motion was actually illegal, because the province has passed Bill 82, giving it the tools to impose municipal amalgamations across the province in the next year. Burke said Bill 82 also gave the province, \u201cthe right to make inquiries into the assets and liabilities of local governments affected by restructuring,\u201d which would mean that himself and town staff would be required to cooperate with Chad Peters, the provincially-appointed facilitator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burke expressed disappointment that council would even consider putting him in the awkward situation of having to answer to the province and also Sackville town council, and flatly told them he would refuse to comply with the motion, if passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can pass any motion that you like, that’s your prerogative,\u201d said Burke. \u201cBut you can’t force me to break the law. And I won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can’t use the corporation as a form of civil disobedience,\u201d said Burke. \u201cThat is front and centre. So my advice to you would be not to pass this motion and put ourselves in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burke\u2019s plea seemed to have been heard, with a 7 to 1 vote against the motion. Even Sabine Dietz, who had previously stated she would back a boycott motion, declined support in the face of Burke\u2019s concerns. Most councillors expressed their understanding of where Evans was coming from, but said they wanted to be at the table for discussions with the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt Estabrooks disagreed more strongly with Evans, and echoed Jamie Burke\u2019s concern for legality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel this motion is presented with blatant disregard for the extremely difficult and potentially illegal position it puts our town of Sackville staff in,\u201d said Estabrooks. \u201cOur administration team is one of the best in the province, and this motion is throwing them and potentially their careers under the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evans accepted the results of the vote even before it was taken, though he contested the idea that the motion would require illegal action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing that I am advocating is advocating breaking the law,\u201d said Evans. \u201cTo characterize anything that I have ever said as a councillor to indicate that I disrespect the competence of staff is so egregiously wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evans said he had \u201cbut the highest regard\u201d for town staff. \u201cThey are being put in an untenable situation and part of my job as a councillor is to protect them,\u201d said Evans. \u201cThis has nothing to do with making them do something that they don’t want to do. It is us making a public statement that we don’t think they should be doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillors decided overwhelmingly against making that statement, and then discussion turned to a second motion put forward by Sabine Dietz, with a list of 8 demands for the province, including an extension of the timeline for decisions on council make-up, and a communications plan from the province which engages with citizens on amalgamation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dietz\u2019s motion saw more support from council, with three of her colleagues backing it, Ken Hicks, Bill Evans, and Michael Tower. Hicks said he felt Dietz\u2019s motion was \u201csymbolic\u201d and could send a clear message of disapproval to the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we unfortunately move forward with this process, we take the opportunities to voice our displeasure and get that information out there,\u201d said Hicks. \u201cAnd I see this motion as doing just that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four councillors disagreed with Dietz\u2019s symbolic motion, making it a tie vote. That left Mayor Shawn Mesheau to break the tie, and he defeated the motion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mesheau said he was concerned about the legalities of the move, but also agreed with Deputy Mayor Andrew Black, who suggested that some of the requests on Dietz\u2019s list could be brought to Chad Peters without a formal motion from council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A decision is expected any day on the make-up of the new Entity 40 council that will be elected in November of this year. On Tuesday night, facilitator Chad Peters met with the advisory committee made of up elected and appointed representatives from the five areas being amalgamated. There are now eight members on the committee, including two each from Sackville, the village of Dorchester, and Point de Bute, and one each from the Sackville Local Service District (LSD) and Dorchester LSD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entity 40 advisory committee, elected and appointed representatives<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n