Manitoba News: RMs on Armstrong board may be dissolved after mass resignations

A mass exodus of elected officials from a rural Manitoba municipality has left the community in limbo and could force the province to dissolve the declining council.

On April 9, four of the six council members in the Armstrong RM — Paul Humeni, Ted Sumka, Pat Stein and Brent Dziadek — submitted letters of resignation, effective immediately.

This leaves only the RM's Reeve Keith Basford and one other councillor.

“The province has been notified of the situation and we are working closely with them to ensure that municipal services continue,” Nancy Howell, the municipality's interim CAO, told CTV News in an email.

Howell could not share the reasons for his resignation and declined to be interviewed.

CTV News has reached out to four councilors for comment, but has yet to hear back.

What happens now?

The mass resignations mean the village council has lost its quorum – under Manitoba municipal law, a council needs at least three elected officials to function.

Manitoba's Municipal and Northern Affairs Division is in the process of appointing an administrator to ensure the continuity of the municipality's day-to-day operations, according to a provincial spokesperson.

But that would also trigger the dissolution of the rest of the council, according to the province.

“Under municipal law, if a provincial administrator is appointed, all other council members and the chief administrative officer are deemed to have resigned,” the spokeswoman said in an email to CTV News.

They said by-elections for all council positions were planned “as soon as practicable”.

In response, Basford told CTV News he hasn't been told what that means for the future of Armstrong's council or what his position is on it.

“I did not resign. I was elected,” he said. “No one has told me otherwise, so I'm not going to speculate. I am who I am until someone tells me otherwise.'

Basford said the Armstrong RM province is in “uncertainty” until a by-election is called.

“Unfortunately, it's not something that happens overnight,” Basford said. “My understanding is that it could take three to six months.”

Has this happened before?

This is not the first time a Manitoba municipality has faced this situation.

In 2019, the city of Teulon lost its quorum after three of its five council members resigned. This led to the appointment of an administrator, the dissolution of the remaining council and a by-election.

In the same year the Norfolk Rural Municipality of Treherne had four of its seven member council resign. However, in this case, with three councilors remaining, a quorum was maintained and by-elections were held to fill the vacancies.

Mandatory Harassment Prevention Training Complaint Order: Province

Basford told CTV News that he was not present at the meeting when the four councilors resigned last Tuesday and did not know why they made the decision.

“There is a harassment issue in this municipality and I'm not going to say more until it happens,” said Basford, who has had to intervene to protect workplace safety and health in Manitoba.

A spokesperson for the province confirmed the Workplace Safety and Health complaint was received, but did not provide further details about the complaint. They say that prompted an improvement order in late March requiring the rural municipality of Armstrong to train employees on its anti-harassment policy.

Basford said he hasn't spoken to any of the former council members since they resigned.

“I regret that the Council chose this path. It's their choice and yes, I wish them the best of luck and we'll continue to do what we need to do and be an effective municipality.”

Armstrong RM is about an hour north of Winnipeg.