The Saskatchewan government took control of a rural municipality last week after half the council resigned and quorum couldn’t be reached.
Government relations minister Harry Van Mulligen appointed Regina lawyer and former legislative law clerk Merilee Rasmussen to act as both reeve and council in the RM of Sherwood until a byelection can be held.
The remaining elected council members will have to run again if they want their jobs back.
The RM, which surrounds Regina, has been beset by problems over the past few years, mainly because of questions about voter eligibility.
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In January, a Queen’s Bench court judge declared last fall’s reeve election to be invalid because the winning margin was just two votes.
The court ordered the reeve removed from office and told council to set a byelection date within 30 days. However, the six councillors were unable to pass an agenda at a recent meeting, leading three of them to resign.
The situation was further complicated by the resignation of the administrator to take a new job.
“Clearly the RM was in a situation in which it had lost the ability to function and make decisions,” Van Mulligen said.
The government also appointed Ron Hilton, a former city commissioner in Swift Current, as administrator. The appointments are effective immediately and will last until a new council is in place and can hire a new administrator.
“The government has the authority to take these actions under sections 400 and 402 of the Municipalities Act,” Van Mulligen said. “(The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities) has also indicated to my department that they are in support of my government’s actions.”
Rasmussen, who was involved in drafting the Municipalities Act in 2005, said she was aware of some of the issues in the RM. Her intention is not to take it in a new direction.
“The idea is to just kind of keep things operating,” she said. “My function is to make the decisions that would otherwise have been taken by the reeve and council.”
Typically at this time of year budgets and mill rates need to be set. She did not expect to be involved in setting up a voters list for the byelection.
The minister said a list is not required for a rural municipal election but would be a “good initiative” for the upcoming vote.
Questions of voter eligibility concern people who own trailers at the Sherwood Forest Country Club. Last year a judge cleared several councillors of charges that they had prevented trailer owners from voting by enforcing a zoning bylaw.
Van Mulligen said changes could be made to legislation that governs voter eligibility, but that won’t happen in time for a byelection.
However, he said voting rules exist and will be enforced.
“We can and will be making clear who is eligible to vote and that there are also penalties for people who make a declaration that they are eligible to vote when in fact they are ineligible.”
He wouldn’t comment on the role personalities have played in the RM’s difficulties over the past few years. He said he hopes all eligible electors will pause and reflect on what has happened and what direction their RM should take.
The government rarely intervenes in municipal governance, although it does have legal responsibility for municipalities. In 2004 the government stepped in when a judge ordered council in the village of Goodeve removed.
“This is not something that occurs very frequently, and I hope it never happens again,” said Van Mulligen.
