It’s interesting to see that, nearly two years after the Village of Clyde councillors voted against the dissolution of their municipality, the council of today has reversed course and signaled the province they want to become part of Westlock County.
Sorry, what did you just say? Clyde council never discussed anything like that at the Feb. 12 meeting?
Au contraire.
When Clyde councillors voted 3-2 to disqualify Coun. Doug Nyal and then take the matter to the Court of Queen’s Bench, it was practically a declaration to the province that they want the village to dissolve.
Let’s unpack that argument, but first we need to offer a disclaimer: we are not taking sides in this dispute. We’re not saying it was right nor wrong to try to give Nyal the boot.
It’s been obvious from the first meeting they held after the Oct. 16 election that certain councillors were at each other’s throats. We have no idea what behind-the-scenes arguments might have contributed to this animosity.
And, to be fair, it’s certainly not the first time there has been in-fighting at the Village of Clyde.
Bringing in expensive lawyers and judges is a whole other issue, one that’s a surefire way to goad the Municipal Affairs minister into forcefully solving the problem with the cheaper alternative: dissolution.
Clyde’s already in a somewhat precarious position. The ministry has laid out a very costly list of infrastructure priorities that they expect the village to complete in the next five, ten and 20 years.
If council is too busy fighting or wasting money on court battles and by-elections, what will happen when those priorities aren’t completed?
We should consider what eventually happened with the Town of Lac La Biche. Prior to the amalgamation of the town and Lakeland County, a review was conducted by governance expert George Cuff, and it led to one councillor being fired and two others resigning.
The situation isn’t exactly the same, but discord at the council level and an inability to govern effectively no doubt contributed to the dissolution of that town.
In the same way, the Village of Clyde’s citizens should be wary of history repeating itself.
