WESTLOCK - The minutes of the Oct. 12 Westlock County council meeting, one which saw senior administration ask for the physical removal of then-Division 7 Coun. Dennis Primeau, then saw them walk out when told it couldn’t be done, will be revised to more accurately reflect the events that unfolded that day.
In a recorded vote at their Nov. 9 meeting, councillors were unanimous (Coun. Stuart Fox-Robinson was absent) in their support of a motion from reeve and current Division 7 Coun. Christine Wiese to revise the minutes of the Oct. 12 meeting to “better reflect the decisions and better capture all the proceedings.” Wiese went on to say she hopes council and admin can “learn from it and do better” and wants current councillors to review the audio recording of the meeting, which as of Nov. 9 had not yet been posted on the county’s website.
“Reviewing it myself as an outsider that day I thought there were several breaches to existing bylaws and I think it’s just miscommunication as to what are FOIP issues and disregard to the Municipal Government Act,” said Wiese.
“I don’t believe anything that was done here that day … I don’t think anyone feels good about it. And whether you’ve been here for one day, or 30-plus years I think the thing we should be taking away from that day is that it is essential to know and understand and follow the Municipal Government Act and code of conduct and procedure bylaws.
“That meeting has a lot of educational value and I hope that everyone does get a chance to review it. And I hope administration and council can learn from it and do better.”
County CAO Kay Spiess said admin will go through the audio recording, which they’re still working on getting posted to the website, and make the changes to the minutes in advance of the next meeting.
“I would echo the same thing in that it’s a learning experience so we can do better, both administration and council so we can work together, not against each other. It’s about us being a team,” said Spiess, noting admin is reviewing the code of conduct and procedure bylaws with an eye to bring them in front of council in January.
“I encourage the councillors who want any more information or if they have any questions about the recording or the events that happened that day I am more than happy to explain our side of things as well.”
As reported in the Oct. 19 Town & Country This Week, the Oct. 12 meeting lasted only a handful of minutes past it's 9 a.m. start before planning and community services director Laurie Strutt asked for the removal of then-Coun. Primeau, who had started the session by asking council to delete “contract discussion” from the in-camera agenda, a motion council eventually defeated 5-1. The contract discussion was about Spiess — council did discuss her contract but made no motions following the in-camera portion of the meeting.
Ultimately, the meeting was paused for a little more than an hour as administration contacted Municipal Affairs and reviewed the county’s code of conduct bylaw. County legislative officer Dianne Johnston said at the time that under their code of conduct bylaw and as per Municipal Affairs, “there was no authority for us to ask a councillor to leave the building (or) leave the meeting.”
When the meeting eventually restarted, Spiess and senior admin rejoined online from her office. Spiess said at the time Primeau was involved in “some unethical events” in the days leading up the meeting which were “unacceptable” by administration.
Wiese, who also asked for some minor adjustments to the minutes like Primeau asking for a recorded vote and clarifying when people enter and exit a meeting online, focused mainly on Section 4.2, which only notes a meeting recess at 9:03 a.m., followed by it reconvening at 9:56 a.m., then being recessed a minute later. The minutes go on to state the meeting restarted at 10:08 a.m., then paused at 10:19 a.m. before reconvening at 10:28 a.m. — Wiese said Section 4.2 should be labelled “emergent item.”
“I don’t know if we should be recording that the councillor asked for a recorded vote, but I do think we should have at least a record of the decision that following a conversation with Municipal Affairs that the councillor (could not be asked) to leave the building or leave the meeting,” Wiese added.
