A byelection for the Rural Municipality of Armstrong will be held at the end of July to replace four councillors who had resigned earlier this year, as well as the reeve and a councillor who could no longer function as a council after quorum was lost.
Councillors Pat Stein, Ted Sumka, Paul Humeny and Brent Dziadek resigned their seats during council’s regular meeting on April 9, almost half way through their four-year term of service.
Allen Pfrimmer (Ward 1) and reeve Kate Basford did not resign their seats, but under the provincial Municipal Act they could not form council as a quorum (minimum of three councillors) is required.
The provincial department of municipal and northern relations had stepped in to appoint an administrator to run the day-to-day business of the municipality.
Under the Manitoba Municipal Act, an administrator can be appointed to a municipality when there is no council or no quorum. Quorum is required for each council meeting, with a minimum number of three councillors.
The Act states that “if the number of members of a council is fewer than required for a quorum or if a council resigns, the Lieutenant Governor in Council may appoint an administrator for the municipality ….”
Council meetings were cancelled starting with the April 23 meeting, according to the RM’s website. The first meeting of the new council is scheduled for Aug. 13.
Despite having resigned their seats, Pat Stein and Paul Humeny are running again for council, along with over a dozen other candidates.
There are three candidates running for reeve: Kate Basford, Pat Stein and Garry Wasylowski.
Ward 1 candidate Guy (Sonny) Rohne was elected by acclamation (there was no other candidate running against him), as was Ward 4 candidate David Tyndale.
Paul Humeny, Amanda Ermel, Drenna Campbell and Charles Whittier are running for Ward 2. Danny Gudbjartson, Greg Fontaine, Glenn Barkman and Greg Dwornick are running for Ward 3. And Luke Hendrickson and Allen Evanchyshin are running for Ward 5.
Advance voting will take place on Saturday, July 20 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Fraserwood Hall, and on Tuesday, July 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the RM of Armstrong office on Highway 17 in Inwood.
The byelection will take place on Wednesday, July 31 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting stations will be set up at the Inwood Memorial Community Center, the Chatfield Community Club, the Silver Community Centre and the Fraserwood Hall.
For more information on the voting locations and alternative means of voting, contact Ernie Epp, senior election official for the RM of Armstrong, at (204) 278-3377 or by email: clerk@rmofarmstrong.com
