‘This is for transparency’: RM of Alexander resident challenges council ban in court

A resident of the Rural Municipality of Alexander has launched a court action that seeks to overturn a decision banning him from attending council meetings or being at the area’s administration building.

Aaron Wiebe said he was ejected from a council meeting on Feb. 13, 2024, after taking a cellphone photo of a document on a screen shown to everyone in attendance.

Wiebe said he was told by a municipal employee to leave, with the municipality’s mayor and council agreeing. Wiebe believed the municipality’s procedural bylaw and the province’s Municipal Act do not give council the power to make such a decision.

Now Wiebe, who unsuccessfully ran for council in the last municipal election, will ask a Manitoba Court of King’s Bench judge to overturn the council motion. He filed court papers on Monday.

“I definitely did not disrupt the meeting,” Wiebe said on Thursday. “I want some sense of accountability. It definitely seems like they set all their own rules.

“This is for transparency. (The council) has to be given the idea they aren’t infinitely powerful on everything.”

The RM, which has its office in St. Georges, represents communities on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, including Albert Beach and Belair, as well as further east to Bird River, Great Falls and Pinawa Bay.

It has not yet filed any documents in court in response to Wiebe.

Jack Brisco, the RM’s mayor, could not be reached for comment.

Wiebe’s motion comes weeks after four residents of the RM of Springfield filed court papers asking for a judge to rule the municipality is either violating the provincial Municipal Act, or their rights to free expression under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, when it barred them from recording council meetings.

That municipality had not filed any documents in court as of Thursday, but Mayor Patrick Therrien said earlier this year that council had prohibited cellphone recordings of meetings because they were too disruptive. The RM said it posts audio recordings of the meetings on its website 48 hours later, but the four residents say in court filings that the audio quality is poor.

A provincial spokesperson confirmed Thursday that earlier this year its Manitoba Municipal and Northern Relations department provided its opinion on the power of municipal councils to the Association of Manitoba Municipalities to distribute to its members.

“Municipal councils, as elected governments, have the authority and responsibility to control the proceedings of their own meetings so that public business may be conducted efficiently and effectively,” said the opinion sent to the AMM. “This includes the authority to expel members of the public from council meetings if their conduct is not appropriate.

“Specific procedural matters, such as the recording of council meetings, are generally not prescribed by the Municipal Act. Instead, the recording of council meetings, like other such matters, is governed by the local bylaws of each municipality.”

The decision went on to say questions about a municipality’s bylaws should be directed to the municipality.

The provincial department also said that if members of the public believe a municipality isn’t following its own rules, a complaint can be made to the Manitoba Ombudsman.

In a video of the meeting in question Wiebe attended, his voice could be heard saying: “don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me.”

This was followed by another voice saying “you’re not following the rules” and “you need to leave.”

The court filing alleges Coun. Diane Dube then asked her fellow council members if they wanted Wiebe to leave. Everyone agreed.

The last comment Wiebe can be heard making is: “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

Last month, Wiebe asked the council for permission to attend meetings again, but the request was not discussed during the Sept. 23 meeting.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca