Minister refuses comment on mass resignations in RM of Sherwood

It’s not clear yet what led to three councillors and the reeve stepping down with the rural municipality of Sherwood last week.

Minister of Government Relations, Eric Schmalz, said the province will support the RM through the transition until a byelection can be held.

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“For me to make comment on reasons why people would have resigned would be probably inappropriate at this time, given that those are decisions made by those individuals,” he said.

A notice posted to the RM’s website confirmed the resignations of Reeve Susan Oakley-Paul, Division 2 Councillor Trent Reiger, Division 3 Councillor John Wilke, and Division 6 Councillor Grant Paul.

980 CJME reached out to the current and former councillors with the RM but no one offered explanations for the resignations.

Schmalz said it is supporting the RM that is now one seat short of a meeting quorum.

“The ministry is going to be there to support the RM of Sherwood and the residents there to ensure that the services they need and require to live in their homes are available to them,” he said.

Council held a closed meeting to talk about a report addressing the code of ethics and ombudsman complaints two days before the councillors quit.

Schmalz said he wasn’t prepared to comment on the report.

“It’s obviously very fresh,” he said. “We’ve had some limited interactions there, and we’re reviewing that as a ministry.”

Schmalz said the province typically steps in to help municipalities two or three times a year when enough members resign, leaving them in jeopardy of meeting quorum.

The RM of Sherwood announced a Bell Canada AI data centre would be built on its land last week. There is no indication the announcement and the resignations are connected.

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