Not so silent E - Can't we all just get along? No. Okay then...Let's fight!!!
- Details
- Published on Friday, April 17, 2015
By Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner
In my 10 plus years as a member of the media, I can honestly say I’ve sat through some really boring municipal meetings in my time. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve nearly dozed off during a school board or city council meeting in Brandon and Portage la Prairie, or even during town council meetings in Neepawa, well..I’d have enough money to buy a comfy pillow to rest my head on at these meetings and get some solid Z’s.
Fortunately, the Apr. 7 edition of Neepawa Town Council was not one of them snoozers….Well, actually it was for the majority of its two hour and 37 minute run time. But for three minutes and 17 seconds, it went from mundane municipal deliberations to the verbal equivalent of a heavyweight title fight between Muhammad Ali and Smokin Joe Fraser.
To properly paint the picture however, allow me to provide a little bit of background first. On Mar. 13, Mayor Adrian de Groot and councillor Jim Cockburn attended a meeting in Minnedosa regarding a joint health centre. The main reason for this session, hosted by Prairie Mountain Health, was to enable newly elected officials from the original municipalities and the newly amalgamated municipalities to get an overview of the planning process to date as outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) originally adopted in 2010. The deal was signed by 11 municipalities, but was completed before the mandated amalgamation of R.M.s across the province.
During the council meeting in Neepawa on Apr. 7, de Groot provided an update to the councillors on that Minnedosa session as part of the mayor’s report. De Groot noted that he asked a few questions during the meeting and then after it had concluded, directly contacted Manitoba Health and Healthy Living and Seniors for some clarification. It’s at that point where things took an interesting turn.
It all started innocently enough, with Councillor Cockburn questioning why de Groot had these discussions with Manitoba Health and Healthy Living and Seniors, wondering why it was not brought forward for council consent. De Groot noted that he did not think that he needed council approval to talk to someone or to basically ask a question. From there….well, I’ll just let the combatants speak for themselves.
Cockburn - “No disrespect intended. You made the phone call. Did you identify yourself as Mayor of Neepawa?”
De Groot - “Yes.”
Cockburn - “Therefore, you are speaking on behalf of council. Because you are our chair. You are our representative.
De Groot - “Right.”
Cockburn - “So, therefore the questions coming forward, in fairness,..(Unable to clearly decipher comment from DVD.) because I’m the one who brought it forward. Some of those questions I may disagree with because they’re already planted in stone for there, of the questions I may agree with, either way I wasn’t subject to that that was going forward. And I don’t think it was in it’s intended state for you to act outside the parameters. I could be wrong, help me out with this?”
De Groot - “I also remind council that I am also a representative for the residents of this community. They have empowered me though the virtue of being elected to this position, to act on their behalf. This is not outside of the perimeters of the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]. This is part of the,…basically the request, or getting information to validate certain things that were expressed, at the meeting. Some concerns, three basic questions were asked and I did not provide the answers, the answers were given to me. The three questions, one of the questions was the state of the current facility. One of the questions was where is it in the process and the third…I don’t have it, it’s in my notes. My notes aren’t here.”
Cockburn - Well, let me draw you a parallel, if I may. I had 25 people also sign my form to ask me to run as their representative of council. If I was to take the same approach to which you outlined to me, here in the last few minutes, I would suggest to you mister mayor that you would reel me in.”
De Groot - I doubt that, but that is you impression…
Cockburn - (Interrupting) Oh no, just think about it. Because, it is mayor and council of the town of Neepawa..
De Groot - I understand that…
Cockburn - (Interrupting) Not councillor of the town of Neepawa. Not mayor of the town of Neepawa, but mayor and council and under the process to which we govern and guide ourselves, it is a collective; collective approach. Not one but a collective. I’m just bringing that forward because I’m a little taken aback by the fact that you went out on your own and ask (sic) questions, because do you not think that we still all have some concerns?
De Groot - If that is the case, we can bring a resolution forward for council direction based on the information I provided.”
Cockburn - “…Another day, another time.”
Text does not do this exchange justice. I watched it live and then viewed it again several times via DVD and I’m not going to lie, it just gets more and more entertaining every single time I see it. It’s now my third favourite movie ever, just behind the Shawkshank Redemption and just ahead of Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
To be clear, I am not taking sides in this debate. Jim Cockburn had concerns he wished to bring to the table and did so in a dramatic way, while Adrian de Groot countered with his perspective, which was a reasonable reply. An exchange like this is the way politics is sometimes, be it municipal, provincial or federal. Sometimes you speak softly while carrying a big stick and sometimes you have to take off your shoe and slam it against the table like you’re Nikita Khrushchev.
But at the same time, did I really just witness a three minute and 17 second conversation on whether or not it’s okay for the mayor to ask questions? I guess that’s a discussion for another day, another time.
