The Village of Clyde is set to take Coun. Doug Nyal to court after council voted to disqualify him from office at their Feb. 12 meeting.
In a 3-2 vote, Mayor Nat Dvernichuk and deputy mayor Christa Clausing supported Coun. Allan Van Eaton’s motion “to proceed with councillor disqualification through the Court of Queen’s Bench” of Doug Nyal, citing that he missed two meetings in a row.
Coun. Matthew White and Nyal voted against the motion, which comes less than four months after council members took office.
Nyal, who will remain a councillor with full voting privileges until the application to Court of Queen’s Bench proceeds and a decision is made, called the move a “witch hunt.”
“I’ve invested 20 years of my life in this council,” he said. “I’m not resigning. You can get a court order to do it if you really want.”
After the motion passed, Dvernichuk leaned toward Nyal.
“It’s not worth getting heart attack Number 3 over, is it?” he said.
Under the Municipal Government Act, a councillor is disqualified if “the councillor is absent from all regular council meetings held during any period of eight consecutive weeks, starting with the date that the first meeting is missed.” The exceptions listed include when the absence is authorized beforehand by a resolution of council, if the councillor is taking a parental leave, or if a bylaw allows councillors to take a leave of absence.
Nyal was absent for the Dec. 11 and Jan. 8 council meetings. The Feb. 12 meeting was on the ninth week since the clock started ticking.
“You’re disqualified as a councillor,” Dvernichuk said. “At these council meetings, we will be disciplined whether we like it or not. If I have to bring in Municipal Affairs to explain the rules, I will.”
Nyal said he missed the December meeting because he was dealing with the death of former councillor Stu Lorencz, who passed away Dec. 8.
Speaking in support of Nyal, White noted that council is now on the hook for the cost of applying to the Court of Queen’s Bench for the disqualification. He said if that goes through, the village will also have to cover the costs of a by-election, as well.
“This is a difficult situation, and I don’t know how much of a benefit there is to the village,” White said. “The way the act is written, the rules were broken, but Nyal’s absence in December was for a good reason.”
After the meeting, Dvernichuk said the village was “going through a transition.”
Acting village chief administrative officer Kim Hale confirmed that the village is now awaiting a response from its lawyer and that the application had not been filed as of press time.
In an interview, Nyal said he was disappointed in the situation, adding that he had not been aware of a problem until it was brought up in council.
He also said he missed the January meeting because of a scheduling error, but he added that he had contacted village administration via text message about the December meeting.
Bylaw enforcement officer Kelly Patry confirmed during the meeting she had received a text message from Nyal about the December meeting, but could not remember when.
“I really don’t know what they’re trying to achieve,” Nyal said. “I’ve lived here all my life and given 20-something years on council and working on the community’s behalf. So why certain people would be so threatened by me sitting on council, I don’t understand that.”
