Black River-Matheson councillors want Municipal Affairs to step in and dissolve council

Three councillors in the northeastern Ont. municipality of Black River-Matheson (BRM) are hoping the province will step in and dissolve their current council table.

Dave Dyment, Louise Gadoury, and Steven Campsall, who represent Wards 3, 5, and 6, respectively, sent a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on March 18.

In the letter, the councillors have asked for Municipal Affairs to insert itself if future council meetings are missed, and then propose a by-election for the municipality. Triggering a by-election would create the opportunity for seven new people to be elected to the council table.

"I'm hoping that the ministry will step in after we miss a couple more meetings and see that we have no confidence in our situation," said Dyment.

Dyment explained that communication between councillors, the mayor, and town staff have broken down and reached a boiling point. He said the situation has meant no town business has been discussed at meetings, and they are no longer serving their approximately 2,500 residents.

"As the letter states, we feel that our council is broken. We feel that our leadership isn't there in our council. We have no teamwork in our council and our staff, we're finding that we're just not able to work with them anymore," said Dyment.

The councillors also explained their viewpoint in an open letter released to residents on Monday, asking them to support the councillors' efforts and put their names forward in a by-election.

The three councillors have also hired their own personal lawyer to deal with the situation, who Dyment said they are paying for out of their own pockets.

The township has not held a public council meeting since Janaury 23, 2024. The scheduled meeting on February 13 was cancelled due to a rally held by CUPE, and the meetings on February 27 and March 12 were cancelled because council did not have quorum. Council did, however, hold an in-camera meeting on February 20.

Dyment said he, Gadoury, and Campsall will not be attending future council meetings, including the next one scheduled for March 26.

"We're going to miss a couple meetings so it puts us in a position that the ministry will hopefully come in and ask for a by-election."

In a statement to CBC News, the Office of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing said, if necessary, and if council fails to obtain quorum for 60 days, the Minister does have power under s. 266 (1) of the Municipal Act, 2001 to declare all council seats vacant.

Dyment said he had so far not heard a response from the mayor or other council members about the letter.

In a statement to CBC, the municipality's CAO Chris Wray, said the township has no comment at this time, but plans to issue a statement in the near future.

Number of issues in BRM over the past year

The tension among council members is the latest in a series of public issues  between town staff and residents over the past year.

In May 2023, BRM council passed a budget with a 34.2 per cent tax increase without prior public consultation. That resulted in residents taking a petition to MPP John Vanthof last August, asking for the Minister of Municipal Affairs to become involved in the township at that point.

Two councillors have resigned over the past year. Former Ward 6 councillor Kim Druer resigned in August, and in February, Ward 2 councillor Keith Neal announced his resignation, which has yet to be formally accepted by council.

14 public works employees represented by CUPE Local 1490 have been walking the picket line for over 150 days after failing to reach a new contract. They were initially locked out of their jobs in October, before the lockout became a strike in January. Bargaining talks between the union and the township have not resumed since the strike began.

Residents held meeting this month about municipal concerns

Prior to the councillors' letter, 150 residents held a community meeting on March 12. The forum was put together by four residents as an information session, and to voice concerns about how the municipality is being run.

Those in attendance decided to form a ratepayers association as a way of becoming more involved in town affairs.

"The ratepayers association is a tool that we can use to hold municipal governments accountable," said Pauline Francis, one of the meeting organizers. 

"It is our united voice as a board that can be heard. So it's the first step toward productively channeling concerns about high taxes, wasteful government spending and a lack of accountability into a positive outcome."

Francis said they have started the legal process to formally incorporate the ratepayers association, which will take a few weeks to complete.

"There is no transparency and there's no accountability here at all. It's zero and we have to get that back. We have to get our town back, this is our main goal."