Port Hawkesbury town council has voted against allowing former Councillor Trevor Boudreau to continue serving until the end of his term.
Deputy Mayor Blaine MacQuarrie made a motion to grant Boudreau a six-month extension, after Boudreau moved out of the town in March, at a special council meeting Tuesday night.
The motion was dropped without a seconder at Port Hawkesbury’s April regular council meeting.
This time the motion was seconded, but after two hours of discussion, including consultation with the town’s solicitor and the Department of Municipal Affairs who advised the motion was legal and up to the discretion of town council to approve or deny, the motion was defeated.
Opponents of the motion, Councillor Hughie MacDougall and Councillor Mark MacIver, said they didn’t agree with interpretations provided by the solicitor and municipal affairs, and said the motion broke government rules.
Afterward, Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, who voted in favor of the motion with MacQuarrie, said the advice was clear and rules are meant to enable the work of council.
“So that we can do the best possible and most efficient job running our municipalities,” she said. “They should never bog down the business of council or prohibit or delay the business of council.”
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there are no plans for the town to hold a byelection to replace Boudreau, so the seat will remain vacant, and the council will operate with only 4 members, until the next general election.
