Ontario issues rare order to fill vacant council seat in West Nipissing

A rarely used provincial order will allow Ontario's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to appoint someone to fill a vacant council seat in West Nipissing.

The order, under Section 14 of the Municipal Affairs Act, allows the province to fill a seat that has been vacant since July 2020.

Council meetings in West Nipissing have been plagued by infighting between two groups of councillors that has left municipal business undone.

Most recently, one group of councillors, who include Mayor Joanne Savage, threatened legal action against the other group for alleged defamatory comments.

In late March, Jay Barbeau, West Nipissing's chief administrative officer, ordered his staff to stop attending council meetings to protect their mental health.

Barbeau welcomed the province's step to fill the vacant council seat with a neutral observer.

"I'm hopeful that when company is present that people behave better," he said. "In terms of what their role will be, it will be to strictly act as observers and to report back."

Barbeau said this was the first time, to his knowledge, that Section 14 has been used to fill a vacant council seat.

Because Ontario's municipal elections will be held Oct. 24, it's no longer possible to have a byelection to fill the seat, as the deadline was March 31.

In a letter to West Nipissing council on April 25, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark said he would appoint a facilitator to work with them and appoint someone to fill the vacant seat by June 30.