Just 2 years old, an N.B. council is in turmoil after resignations and sanctions
Resignation letter from Strait Shores mayor calls new councillor the 'town bully'
Another of New Brunswick's new municipal councils has become embroiled in drama and bitter conflict.
Strait Shores lies along the Northumberland Strait and includes the former village of Port Elgin and smaller communities out to the Confederation Bridge. The sprawling community was amalgamated in 2023 as part of local governance reform.
But the Strait Shores council began to unravel this year after a new member was elected in a January byelection.
What followed were resignations, sanctions, heated allegations and a tense public meeting, where angry residents spoke out in support of the new councillor, saying he was being unfairly punished.
Andy MacGregor, a retiree who took up school-bus driving to stay busy, said he ran in the byelection after attending council meetings and feeling local government needed more structure.
"Not much detail, not much talking, no discussion, just everything was rubber-stamped in and out," MacGregor said in an interview.
At his second meeting, on Feb. 10, MacGregor introduced a dozen transparency motions. Among other things, he called for posting previous financial statements, requiring a public tender when a municipal asset is sold, and imposing a deadline for posting meeting minutes.
In his speech, which he shared with CBC News, MacGregor called on his colleagues to be accountable.
"And if you feel that for any reason, you cannot work within this system, I would strongly urge you to resign for the betterment of Strait Shores."
Over a month later, the minutes from that meeting are still not on the Strait Shores website, so it is unclear how other councillors voted on his motions.
What is clear, however, is the meeting struck a nerve.
Accusations of a 'town bully'
Mayor Jason Stokes resigned Feb. 14, and in a blistering three-page letter, attacked MacGregor.
Stokes called MacGregor the "town bully" and accused him of having "intense hatred" for municipal staff. MacGregor's motions came from a "need to control the staff," said Stokes, who wanted an apology.
"Please don't think that because you watched a bunch of meetings and read a bunch of stuff that you know what being a mayor and councillor is like," Stokes wrote, adding he experienced "visceral anger and hatred" from MacGregor.
A CBC request for an interview with Stokes went unanswered.
When CBC first requested a copy of Stokes's letter, CAO Donna Hipditch said it could be found on a local Facebook group, where it was posted anonymously. Asked again for an official copy, Hipditch refused to provide one until it was tabled at council's next meeting.
Soon after, two other councillors, Stacy Jones and Tanya Haynes, also resigned, only to then change their minds. Hipditch would not provide copies of their resignation letters, saying it would be "redundant" after they had returned to their roles.
If their resignations had stood and there was no longer a quorum, New Brunswick's Local Governance Commission would have stepped in to supervise the municipality.
Last year, the province stepped in to appoint a supervisor in the municipality of Lakeland Ridges, which also saw rampant infighting among councillors. And in nearby Fundy-Albert, the mayor resigned, blaming the province for doing little to help with the growing pains of amalgamation.
No details of code of conduct review
On Feb. 20, MacGregor said he received a letter, signed by the clerk and acting mayor, telling him he was being sanctioned and was the subject of a code of conduct review.
Handwritten across the letter were the words "personal and confidential — this cannot be shared with anyone." The letter said MacGregor's conduct at the Feb. 10 meeting resulted in "multiple instances" of councillors complaining about his conduct.
"Municipal staff have also informally reported being harassed and intimidated by Councillor MacGregor's behaviour," the letter said.
Until an investigation is complete, the letter said, MacGregor was barred from contacting municipal staff and councillors, and from entering municipal buildings. No details of the investigation or a timeline were given.
"I've been basically, completely stripped of my democratically elected rights to represent people of Strait Shores," MacGregor said.
"They just weaponized the code of conduct. I mean, they just want to get rid of me."
Deputy Mayor Annamarie Boyd is now acting mayor, overseeing a council now made up of herself and freshly un-resigned councillors Jones and Haynes. Normally, the council has a mayor and four councillors, one acting as deputy mayor.
While MacGregor said he believes he is still a councillor, he is not listed as one on the municipal website.
MacGregor said he's complained officially to the province and hopes to resume serving as councillor.
"I'm not discouraged at all," he said. "I mean, this is why I decided to run for transparency, accountability.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'll get back at the table when this is done, and we'll just pick up where I left off, right?"
After MacGregor was banished from the council table, those who remained made sure no one else could join them anytime soon.
No elections until 2026
According to meeting minutes, a motion to declare Stokes's mayoral vacancy to Elections N.B. in time for a spring byelection was defeated at a special council meeting Feb. 28.
Elections N.B. spokesperson Paul Harpelle said in an email that because no official notice of a vacancy was received, Strait Shores will have to wait until the next New Brunswick municipal elections on May 11, 2026, meaning Boyd will be acting mayor until then.
The decision not to ask for a byelection was just another source of anger for residents, which bubbled over at council's meeting March 10, the first since controversies started to pile up.
Residents pack council meeting
About 40 people crammed into the tiny municipal building in Port Elgin, which had seating for 12. Two RCMP cruisers idled across the street, a rare sight in the village where the nearest police stations, in Shediac and Sackville, are 30-minute drives away.
Before Stokes's resignation letter was tabled, resident Stephen Robb spoke in MacGregor's defence and called for Boyd and the remaining councillors to resign.
"It shouldn't be necessary to remind council that airing dirty laundry is the worst possible way to leave a legacy for your time in office and residents deserve and expect better," Robb said.
"Strait Shores is viewed as a community which is unable to help itself because of rampant infighting and bullying."
Robb's speech drew loud applause from the crowd. Boyd then continued with regular council business for a tense 20 minutes.
A representative of the regional service commission was also at the table. Hipditch said this was because she and the councillors were all women and fearful of the large crowd.
When the meeting adjourned, the public stayed in the room, with some jeering and others seeking one-on-one talks with councillors.
Staff turned off the lights to try to get people to leave, with little effect.
In an interview after the room darkened, Boyd wouldn't say who was doing the code of conduct investigation into MacGregor or when it would be completed, citing confidentiality.
She also would not comment on the call for her resignation minutes earlier.
"I'd like for people to give us a chance," she said when asked if she believed the council is transparent.
Council can only serve the public if the community "stops the infighting, the bickering," she said.
She wouldn't say why council wouldn't declare the mayor's post vacant, although she's found stepping in as acting mayor "quite overwhelming."
Supporters urge MacGregor not to quit
After residents finally left the building, several lingered on the sidewalk, voicing concerns. Some municipal staff left in such a hurry they got into a fender-bender leaving the parking lot.
Lara MacMillan said she was at the February meeting that resulted in MacGregor being sanctioned.
"He was sincere and he was serious, but he was not threatening, and he was not a bully," she said. "He was giving voice to many of us who are and have been imploring the council to represent us.
"I see all kinds of potential and what we want to see is representation that meets the needs of the community."
Nearby, Gary Rayworth agreed and said he voted for MacGregor because of his calls for transparency.
MacGregor's sanctions were indicative of problems with amalgamation and a lack of training for new councils.
He said he hopes MacGregor stands his ground.
"Go for it, Andy. Don't quit. Whatever you do. Hopefully he gets his feet back on the ground, because he's not easily deterred."
Joel Downs said removing MacGregor "doesn't seem very Canadian."
He said issues in Strait Shores reflect the slow decline of New Brunswick's small communities. Councils should be focused on promoting economic development and opportunity, he said, gesturing at several abandoned storefronts on the main street.
"Because without a future, what are our children and our grandchildren going to look forward to in these kinds of communities?"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
