McBride council meeting cancellations violate village policy

By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG

The Village of McBride canceled two consecutive regularly scheduled council meetings in May, violating the village council’s procedural rules. The Village did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Goat on these cancellations.

McBride has not held a regular council meeting since April 25. Executive director Jeanette McDougall issued a cancellation notice four days before the next meeting, scheduled for May 14. The notice did not include the reason for the cancellation, and McDougall did not respond to The Goat’s email asking why the meeting was canceled.

McDougall issued a cancellation notice for a second meeting on May 27 – just a day before the meeting was scheduled to take place – due to lack of quorum.

According to the Community Charter, which provides a statutory framework for municipal governments across British Columbia, local government councils must meet regularly in accordance with their procedural bylaws.

McBride’s procedural bylaw states that regular council meetings cannot be canceled twice in a row. Although the regulation states that the corporate officer must publicly give notice of changes to the village meeting schedule as soon as possible, it does not include a specific deadline for issuing notices of cancellation or postponement.

The next Village meeting was postponed from June 11 to June 19, also due to lack of quorum.