There’s a vacant seat on Port Hawkesbury town council.
Terry Doyle, the town’s chief administrative officer, declared the vacancy at April’s regular town council meeting Tuesday night; former councillor Trevor Boudreau gave notice he no longer lived in the town.
Blaine MacQuarrie, the town’s deputy mayor, presented a motion to allow Boudreau to continue serving until October’s municipal elections, but it wasn’t seconded, and was dropped without a vote.
After the meeting, Brenda Chisholm-Beaton, the mayor of Port Hawkesbury said she’s very disappointed with the outcome.
“We are in uncharted territory- I wouldn’t think that a special election would be possible in this present climate,” she said. “Who knows how long that this will extend- this could have ramifications for our municipal election just this fall.”
Chisholm-Beaton said the next step is to seek guidance from Chuck Porter, the province’s minister of municipal affairs.
She said the short time frame, COVID-19 public health restrictions, and the provincial state of emergency would make it difficult- if not impossible- to hold a byelection, so the seat may remain vacant the until October.
