After 15 months of waiting, some councillors in the three largest cities will have to wait just a bit longer to take their place among the newly elected municipal council.
The delay is because of the interpretation of the rules by each of the different city’s staff. Under the Municipal Elections Act, any candidate who loses by 25 votes or less can request a recount. Recounts were done in Edmundston, Fredericton, Grand Falls, Moncton, Norton, Paquetville, Stanley, St. George, and Saint John, according to the provincial government.
Jennifer Lawson, Fredericton’s city clerk, said it cannot do anything until the recount is finalized. She said the rules also apply to the 10 days following the recount in the event a candidate requests a judicial review.
“You have to have 10 days after your first recount before you can have your first meeting,” she said in an interview Friday.
It means the newly elected officials in Fredericton will have to wait until June 14 before they can take their oath of office. The recount in Fredericton was completed and fell in favour of incumbent Henri Mallet over newcomer Janet Moser.
However, that interpretation isn’t shared by city staff in Moncton and Saint John, who both will swear in a new council on June 7.
Lisa Caissie, a spokesperson for the City of Saint John, said Ward 4 councillors-elect Greg Stewart and Paula Radwan will not take the oath of office at Monday night’s ceremony. She said during the 10 days following the affirmed recount of the election results — released on May 25 after delays due to a lockdown of the Edmundston region because of the pandemic — the council cannot hold any meetings.
“During this second 10-day period, we have further been informed (and confirmed by the language in the Elections and Local Governance Acts) that we are not allowed to hold any Council meetings with the new Council,” she wrote in an email.
Moncton is following suit, holding its swearing-in ceremony on June 7 too. Councillor-elect Daniel Bourgeois will not take his oath of office until June 14.
The further delays don’t bother Fredericton Ward 7 councillor Kevin Darrah too much because he knows how dedicated both the new and the old council have been and will be.
“Any delay at all, I can only imagine, they’d feel uneasy … and just want to get going,” he said.
He said there was a lot of work accomplished with the old council and mayor and he has no doubt the new one is ready to get down to business.
Moncton has scheduled a meeting of council for June 21, while Fredericton and Saint John have yet to publicly release the dates of their June council meetings.