Lakeland Ridges council to come back to life as provincial supervision ends

The troubled council of Lakeland Ridges in western New Brunswick will be reinstated.

After provincial supervision of Lakeland Ridges since last summer, the government announced on Thursday that the "appointed supervisor will no longer have jurisdiction and control" over the municipality, effective May 15.

"Our government wants to allow the council of the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges and its residents the chance to grow and flourish as a community," Local Government Minister Glen Savoie said in a news release.

"We encourage the council to fully address past issues and engage in the transition services being offered."

With a byelection scheduled for Monday in Lakeland Ridges, the move also gives a brand-new mayor — and slightly different council — a chance at a fresh start.

The byelection was called to fill the mayor's chair, left vacant when Tanya Cloutier resigned in January, along with councillors Michael Furrow and Mark Grant.

Provincial reform created new municipal entities across New Brunswick, including combining Canterbury, seen here, with Meductic. (Shane Fowler/CBC)

Only one person stepped up to run for the two vacant council positions, so Dustin Buckingham will be acclaimed.

Running for mayor are Eric Cummings, Leonard Foster and Lance Graham.

When reached by phone on Friday, Cummings said he decided run because he was "tired of the hornet's nest more than anything, and I decided something had to be done."

Cummings, who previously served on Meductic's council, said he's confident he can lead his community "to get the whole amalgamation back on track."

He said he's been in business for more than 30 years and has "a fair bit of supervision experience, so I guess we've been into a lot of hornet's nests — one more wasn't going to matter."

Foster and Graham did not respond to interview requests on Friday, nor did Buckingham.

According to Thursday's news release, the Department of Local Government will offer financial support for "transition training" for council members to bring about "a seamless transition."

Long-standing divisions

Divisions within the community became clear soon after it was brought together as Lakeland Ridges, an amalgamation of the former villages of Meductic and Canterbury, as well as six local service districts.

A council meeting last June, for example, didn't go ahead because councillors couldn't agree on an agenda.

Then, two municipal office staff went out on medical leave. Another council meeting scheduled for July was cancelled because a temporary clerk still wasn't in place.

By last summer, the province appointed Michael Blaney, a former mayor of Gagetown, as supervisor and later replaced him with Greg Lutes, a consultant and former provincial deputy minister. In February, the province appointed Stephen Manuel, a former mayor of Meductic.

Tanya Cloutier quit as mayor of Lakeland Ridges in January, saying even after the province intervened, a group of councillors continued to complain and badmouth her. (Tanya Cloutier/Facebook)

By then, Cloutier had already quit as mayor because of continued infighting and division between her and several councillors. Cloutier did not respond to an interview request on Friday.

According to a consultant's report in November, municipal operations came to a virtual standstill in June when the two employees took leaves, and replacements could not be found.

Council meetings "were chaotic, lasting up to four hours each, twice per month, lacking decorum or respect for rules of procedure," the report said."The failure of these meetings led to the use of email trails in between sessions to continue to debate matters."

This "frustrating environment" led to minor criticisms and mistakes being "amplified."

"Two camps became established with a coalition of five openly organizing outside of council meetings," the report said.

To get out of the mess, the report recommended the nine elected members and two employees go through mediation "to resolve interpersonal conflicts" and training "to better understand council functions and communications."

"To be successful, each of the eleven individuals involved will need to recommit to serving all of Lakeland Ridges and working cooperatively together."

Although he could not be reached for comment on Friday, one of the suspended councillors, Randy Stairs, said in February that training and mediation had been going well.

He said they were about "seven-tenths of the way there" by that time.

'Historical superiority' an issue

The report identified "a number of unhelpful tactics and approaches" that fed "the chaotic working environment," including conflicts of interest, and appealing to Local Government for second opinions or rulings.

It also identified "historical superiority," where individuals bragged that their former communities did things better, or that others didn't have the "best history of governance practices."

"Focusing on the past serves the intention of undermining the authority of members of council or staff who served former communities and either discrediting them for collective mistakes or bolstering the track record of others," said the report.