RM of Cartier byelection coming

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/10/2020 (2136 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Rural Municipality of Cartier is looking to elect a reeve, a councillor and two Local Urban District of Elie committee members in its upcoming byelection.

Council passed a motion to hold a byelection on Wed., Dec. 2, provided that enough people apply for the open positions. Christa Vann Mitchell resigned from her role as Ward 5 councillor at the Oct. 13 council meeting so she could campaign for reeve.

Dale Fossay, the RM’s former reeve, left council on Aug. 17; he’d been an elected official for 18 years. Coun. Ken Beaudin (St. Eustache/Poplar Point) is the municipality’s acting reeve.

Folks who want to campaign for reeve or Ward 5 councillor must register at the RM of Cartier office by the end of the day Tues., Oct. 27. The Ward 5 councillor represents Elie/Glengarry.

Candidates must also be nominated, with at least 25 voters signing on, or not less than one per cent of voters in the affected region. Folks campaigning for the LUD of Elie committee must also be nominated. People can drop off nomination forms at the RM of Cartier office from Wed., Oct. 21 through Fri., Oct. 23 and Mon., Oct. 26 through Tues., Oct. 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Folks can call the municipal office at 204-353-2214 for registration and nomination forms.

Additionally, the municipality is searching for a new chief administrative officer. At the Oct. 13 meeting, council chose Harris Leadership Strategies to find the new employee. 

Harris Leadership Strategies will conduct the first round of interviews with prospective candidates. Councillors will be brought in for the final two rounds of interviews. 

“Don’t expect anything for three months,” Coun. Estelle Thornson (Dacotah/Springstein) told council, adding that it takes weeks for firms to find and decide upon the best options.

Council chose Harris Leadership Strategies out of four companies because the firm had found the Rural Municipality of Headingley’s chief administrative officer.

During the Oct. 13 meeting, council decided to not put on a Remembrance Day service this year. The decision comes in the midst of COVID-19 cases spiking in the province. At the time, the region was limited by code orange restrictions on gathering sizes. Councillors said they were unsure when restrictions would lift, making it hard to plan for Remembrance Day.

“Who knows when that’s going to happen,” Coun. Andrew Peters (Lido Plage/Whitehorse) said about the restrictions lifting. “It could be a day before.”

Instead, the RM will stick to symbolic measures this November. Ideas include putting wreaths around the cenotaph at Joe Legault Park in Elie, changing LED signage to flash “Lest We Forget,” and making a post to honour soldiers on the RM’s Facebook page and website.

Cheryl Stock updated council on Elie Community Club at the Oct. 13 meeting. The centre reopened with scaled back classes. Events, like birthday parties, were capped at 10 attendees.

Elie Community Club has had to cancel Mall in the Hall, an event that usually elicits over $1,000 for the club, and its fall supper, a fundraiser that brings in thousands of dollars. There will be an online Mall in the Hall option instead this year.

Stock added that Elie Community Club has spent just under $3,000 on COVID-19 preventative supplies, including hand sanitizer, wall-mounted units, crowd barriers and signage, among other things.

Skating lessons and public skating will go ahead, but there will be special measures, like restricted capacity during public skate times and more time between skating lessons, Stock said.