Battle brewing in rural Manitoba after councillor ousted by fellow members
CTV
A battle is brewing in a rural municipality in Manitoba where one councillor says her fellow members of council ousted her – something the province says can only be done by the court.
A battle is brewing in a rural municipality in Manitoba where one councillor says her fellow members of council ousted her – something the province says can only be done by the court.
Last week when Coun. Donna Cox showed up for a council meeting in the Rural Municipality of Thompson, she says council asked for her resignation, told her she was being disqualified as a councillor, and had her escorted out of the building.
"The Reeve said that he did not feel that I was fulfilling my duties as a councillor. He told me that he didn't think that I was a good fit for the group, and he said that it just wasn't working for them to have me on council," Cox told CTV News.
For more than a decade, Cox has served as a trustee in her area's school division. Last year, she made the jump into municipal politics when she was elected as a councillor in the RM of Thompson – a community located about 90 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.
Cox says issues started popping up on council when changes were made early this year to reschedule all council and Local Urban District (LUD) committee meetings to happen in the morning. Cox, who works a full-time job, was the sole councillor to vote against this.
"We're expected to work together. We're all elected officials, and you know, the public expects us to make decisions together. There's certain things that we're not going to agree on, but we need to at the very least consider each other," she said.
Beyond her concerns for her own schedule, she said the timing change also impacts the public's ability to participate in the meetings.