A Court of King’s Bench judge has reinstated RM of Thompson councillor Donna Cox after the council she sits on tried to remove her for missing three meetings held while she was working at her full-time job with the provincial government.
“This matter is anything but an example of collective responsibility, consensus governing and leadership of elected officials,” King’s Bench Justice Chris Martin wrote in his ruling. “Council did not extend simple courtesies so that every councillor chosen by voters could rightfully fulfil their mandate. Collectively on this issue, all members of council and committee fell well short of facilitating good governance as common sense and collegiality would demand.”
Last year, the RM of Thompson and Local Urban District (LUD) of Miami applied under the Municipal Act to disqualify first-time councillor Donna Cox and declare her position vacant after she missed three consecutive committee meetings.
Due to her work commitments, Cox was unable to attend three back-to-back meetings held at 9:30 a.m. Her employer did not grant her unpaid leave to participate in these meetings.
Cox was first elected Ward 2 councillor in October of 2022 after previously serving as a school trustee. Ward 2 includes the town of Miami, and with her becoming elected, Cox automatically became a member of the LUD of Miami Committee and was appointed to five other committees.
Following Cox being elected, the RM council implemented a bylaw amending the start times of their regular meetings. The changes involved shifting from a rotation of 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. start times to solely beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Cox was the only one of six RM councillors to vote against the change and subsequently told the council that if the change went ahead, she would be able to attend only one council meeting a month because her employer would not approve additional time off.
Reeve Brian Callum testified in court that changing the meeting times simply worked best for the majority of council members.
“I find that when making the changes, council and committee knew Ms. Cox would be adversely impacted, if not precluded from fully attending and participating, and made the changes for ‘convenience reasons,’” Martin said. “Council members were unwilling to continue with one monthly 5 p.m. meeting, despite council having done so during the prior four-year period.”
Cox missed three consecutive committee meetings between Jan. 18 and March 15, 2023, cause for disqualification under the Municipal Act.
Last May, the RM of Thompson became aware that under the Municipal Act, only a Court of King’s Bench justice could make a determination that a councillor be disqualified. Upon hearing that, the RM took the matter to court.
Justice Martin rejected the RM’s claim that meeting times were changed to accommodate council members. While several council members had full-time jobs, they worked for themselves in businesses they owned.
“The degree of flexibility they have, being their own boss, is in no way equivalent to the lack of flexibility Ms. Cox had,” Martin said. “It was disingenuous to offer this excuse.”
Voters in the area elected Cox as their representative, and she should have been provided the help she needed to carry out her duties as a councillor.
“Any council or committee has the responsibility to all voters to work with elected representatives to assist them in fulfilling their obligations to the voters and the municipality,” Martin said. “A municipality cannot, in a situation such as this, in effect, obstruct a councillor and disenfranchise voters by taking actions it knows, or should reasonably know, will preclude the elected representative from fulfilling their function.”
“Generally, communication, collaboration and compromise are hallmarks of good governance; here, the municipality failed miserably.”
Ultimately, the judge ruled that Cox be reinstated as Ward 2 councillor in the RM of Thompson immediately.
The RM of Thompson is also on the hook for lawyer fees on both sides and will be spending the ratepayers’ money on this, which is not a good look on the RM’s part.
Cox was pleased with the ruling and looks forward to returning to her seat on the council.
“I have every intention of fulfilling my duties as a councillor,” said Donna Cox. “I believe the next meeting is Feb. 29, and I’m looking forward to getting caught up on everything that I’ve missed.”
RM of Thompson Reeve Brian Callum is not as enthusiastic with the court’s ruling.
“We have the recent decision from the Court of King’s Bench,” said RM of Thompson Reeve Brian Callum. “Council for the Municipality acted in accordance with the provisions of The Municipal Act, as well as our duties and obligations to our ratepayers when a councillor has failed to attend meetings and missed three consecutive meetings. We are considering our appeal options.”
When pressed further on the topic, Callum failed to comment.
