Challenges continue to face Fort Frances Council

Fort Frances council continues to face more challenges after the resignation of a council member and now the temporary leave of absence by the mayor.

In a media release last week, the town announced that mayor Andrew Hallikas will be taking the leave to focus on his health and Deputy Mayor Michael Behan will assume the mayoral duties effective immediately.

"This decision was not made lightly, as Mayor Hallikas has been managing health challenges since late July," said the release.

"He is currently receiving care in hospital and working toward recovery. Mayor Hallikas extends his heartfelt thanks to the community for their understanding and support during this time."

Earlier this month, Mandi Olson-Walton resigned from her position on council referencing challenges working with council and trying to implement actions when it comes to reconciliation in the town.

In a statement, Olson-Walton said council was provided and encouraged to offer recommendations and feedback as part of an update of the committee bylaw policy which informs committees of council " including any ad-hoc committees that are formed or meet when necessary"

Olson-Walton said the policies determine the reporting mechanisms, mandates and overall direction of each committee, and she was placed on reviewing the Indigenous Relations Advisory Committee.

"I was met with many challenges and at times, confusion. To ensure I didn't miss highlighting this, I provided an email to the Mayor, Clerk, and CEO of my thoughts on the current policy and the concerns I was experiencing with it" said Olson-Walton in her statement.

"Overall, I found it to be outdated, noting there were significant inequities between committees, and many committees were purposeless as the mandate wasn't followed or are unnecessary with the newly implemented governance changes."

Olson-Walton said she brought recommendations to council including the importance of remuneration such as tobacco and a gift and the importance of language and how Indigenous people are addressed, including changing it from 'Aboriginal' to 'Indigenous' in future policies and more.

But when bringing it up to council, Olson-Walton said the conversation brought her to tears.

"In that moment, it was a realization that although I have tried my best for nearly two years to make space for real-world discussion, it is met with deafening responses of 'expediting' and 'wordsmithing'. It is now apparent that my intention of having robust and meaningful discussions are not welcome at this table," said Olson-Walton.

"This meeting validated for me that conversations of relevance or intent are to be surface level and quick. "Discussion" and/or healthy debate does not happen at this table."

Mike Behan is the deputy mayor for Fort Frances, and said he was surprised and disappointed that Olson-Walton chose to resign from her position on council.