A lack of firm understanding surrounding a major project has left Renfrew’s mayor without the confidence of council, according to the four councilors who voted in favour of a non-confidence motion at Tuesday night’s meeting.
But how did it come to this?
Councilor John McDonald, who brought the motion forward earlier in January, was given the first chance to speak on the matter when it came up during the meeting.
He pointed to a number of issues discovered by the initial report on the Ma-te-Way Expansion’s third-party review as failures on the part of Sidney and senior town staff at the time, including the rushed construction schedule through the COVID-19 pandemic, entering into a contract without a cap on spending, and incomplete plans and documents found throughout the process.
While he believes the mayor is not the only person to blame for the project getting out of hand, he is responsible.
Jason Legris echoed a similar refrain as some of his fellow councilors, saying that Sidney did not have many answers for why a project he considered “his baby” went off the rails, adding that he felt compelled to support a vote of non-confidence as part of the group now overlooking the Ma-te-Way Expansion project.
Meanwhile, Andrew Dick began his support of the motion by claiming that the vote was “not personal” but a matter of accountability, as he was regularly frustrated that the mayor showed “no initiative or support” to address the current council’s concerns with the project until a third-party review was requested.
Clint McWhirter would follow, adding that the mayor should have had a plan to tackle the issue on Day one of this session of council as the person “given the best possible voice” to address the matter.
The non-confidence motion passed by a recorded vote of 4-3, with Kyle Cybulski, Peter Emon, and Mayor Sidney voting against it.
Cybulski stressed that his vote was not an endorsement of the mayor, who he says has improvements to make as a leader going forward. However, he isn’t completely informed to claim a lack of confidence without the final presentation of the Ma-te-Way Expansion Project’s third-party review.
Emon expressed similar concerns, adding that he wasn’t comfortable with the precedent that might be established if the non-confidence motion became a common document used to disrupt certain members of council.
Sidney also believes that the vote was premature, noting that he believes the third-party review’s final report will feature a lot of detail that people will find “surprising.”
(written by Kasey Egan)