Provincially appointed administrator to step in after Winnipeg Beach town council implodes amid conflicts, allegations

The province is appointing an administrator to temporarily oversee the Town of Winnipeg Beach after a series of resignations from a council beset by personal conflicts and allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

The five-member council lost quorum and is being dissolved after the most recent resignation was submitted April 30, which followed two earlier resignations, the acclamation of a new mayor and the death of a councillor.

“When there are not sufficient members on a council to form a quorum, the Municipal Act requires the province to appoint an administrator to ensure the continued functioning of the municipality,” a provincial spokesperson said in a statement.

The two remaining council members — Mayor Stan Potten and deputy mayor Barry Hoel — will be deemed to have resigned when an administrator is appointed this week.

The administrator will act in council’s place until a new mayor and councillors are sworn in after a previously scheduled general election is held July 24.

Chief administrative officer Jodi Mitchell confirmed the town is waiting to hear back after notifying the province of the loss of quorum.

Winnipeg Beach, located on Lake Winnipeg about 65 kilometres north of Manitoba’s capital, has about 1,500 residents. The population rises when seasonal residents arrive in the summer.

It is the fourth Manitoba municipality to have an administrator appointed since 2019, joining the northern towns of Leaf Rapids and Lynn Lake, and the Rural Municipality of Armstrong in the Interlake. Only Leaf Rapids is still without a council.

Winnipeg Beach’s council was already down to three members when Doug Jarvis resigned as a councillor last week. Jarvis, who is seeking re-election in July, declined to disclose his reason or reasons for resigning.

“We’re on our fifth CAO and two councillors have quit… that would be self-evident that there is something amok,” said Jarvis, noting the number of permanent and acting CAOs since 2022.

A lot of work will be on hold while council is dissolved, he noted. Council did not yet vote on the town’s next budget.

Two seats became vacant after the death of Coun. Larry Kisiloski on Dec. 18, and the resignation of then-councillor Jean Gendron last summer.

Afterward, Potten, Jarvis and Hoel decided not to hold byelections, which carry a financial cost, because a general election was less than a year away.

“When I resigned in September, council was not functioning in the manner in which council should be functioning, which is to be governing,” Gendron told the Free Press.

“It was very clear not just to myself, but to a lot of the taxpayers who watched meetings, that the majority of this council were wanting to manage…. Even after I resigned, I continued to follow meetings and it was clear that that issue didn’t resolve itself.”

Potten was acclaimed as mayor in March 2025, after former mayor Pam Jackson resigned. He mostly declined to comment on whether there were issues among council members.

“I’ll speak to this last one that just resigned, absolutely not,” said Potten, who is seeking re-election. “I will say I ran our council correctly. I was never a hollering, screaming, telling people what to do.”

Potten said he was shocked, sad and disappointed when council lost quorum.

Hoel said he hopes the next council can work together. He said he doesn’t believe conflicts interfered with council business.

“There are always disagreements and agreements — some worse than others — but certainly this past council there were disagreements and personality conflicts,” said Hoel, who is seeking re-election.

Jackson resigned at a September 2024 meeting, after her request for a medical leave of up to three months was denied by Hoel, Jarvis and Kisiloski. The trio had suggested she could instead attend meetings virtually or by phone.

“I’ve done the best that I was able to do under some very, very trying and difficult circumstances at this table.”

Jackson told the meeting, which was livestreamed on YouTube, she was put in the “untenable position” of having to choose between her health and continuing as mayor.

“I love this community. I’ve done the best that I was able to do under some very, very trying and difficult circumstances at this table,” she said in her resignation speech.

“Having to listen to homophobic slurs. Having a code of conduct brought against me, that our provincial review stated that the complaint was vexatious, had no reasonable or sound basis in fact or in law, is without merit and was brought with the primary intent of harassing, discriminating or subduing myself.”

Jackson, who is lesbian, told the Free Press on Tuesday that she faced sexism, discrimination and homophobia from some council members.

“Between the sexist remarks and the homophobic remarks, it was a very difficult culture to work within,” she said.

Jackson claimed male councillors didn’t like that a woman was leading council. She said it was a struggle to try to get council members to work together.

Gendron, too, said that in hindsight she believes she faced sexism, and the men didn’t like strong women on council.

Hoel denied that sexism existed or that gender factored into personal conflicts on council.

Inappropriate behaviour or disputes involving some municipal council members in Manitoba have made headlines in recent years.

The province appointed a temporary administrator for the RM of Armstrong after four of six council members resigned in 2024 over an alleged toxic environment.

In 2023, the Manitoba Court of Appeal ruled that councillors who stripped RM of St. Andrews Mayor Joy Sul of key responsibilities did not have the authority to do so.

“We should want to have local democracy and have some say about how a municipality is administered.”

Toxic politics can discourage prospective candidates from running and harm public perception of governments, said University of Winnipeg political science Prof. Aaron Moore.

“We have seen and we have heard of a lot of examples where councillors or mayors or reeves are feeling harassed or are being harassed by their fellow council members,” he said.

“These are adults. They’re in an environment where you expect them to be professional and courteous to each other, regardless of their differences.”

Manitobans shouldn’t want the province to be appointing administrators or running municipalities, Moore said.

“We should want to have local democracy and have some say about how a municipality is administered,” he said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca