RIDEAU LAKES — Rideau Lakes council voted Monday to bring back an outside facilitator after a workplace safety committee warned ongoing conflict could trigger Ministry of Labour intervention.
The motion, passed during committee of the whole on May 11, asks the Public Services Health and Safety Association (PSHSA) to return and help council work through ongoing conflict tied to Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) recommendations and workplace concerns.
The motion asks the PAHSA to return as soon as possible to facilitate a closed session working meeting focused on the Joint Health and Safety Committee recommendations, ongoing council conflict and next steps.
Mayor Arie Hoogenboom relinquished the chair so he could speak to the motion, with Deputy Mayor Sue Dunfield stepping in to act as chair.
Coun. Debbie Hutchings said she supports the workplace safety recommendations already accepted by council, but believes the bigger problem now is the growing conflict between councillors themselves.
“We can’t do this ourselves,” Hutchings said. “We need somebody who sort of knows like a referee.”
Hutchings said councillors continue putting words in each other’s mouths and spiralling into conflict instead of finding solutions.
“I just want to resolve this so that we can get back to the task at hand,” she said.
She also admitted councillors themselves share responsibility for the atmosphere around the council table.
“We all do,” Hutchings said. “Let’s try to find a third party to help us get along.”
Hoogenboom pushed back against the motion, arguing council should focus on implementing recommendations already on the table instead of reopening discussions through more facilitated meetings.
“I feel some members are not taking or treating staff concerns with the priority that they deserve,” Hoogenboom said.
The mayor criticized what he called “last-minute motions like this one” and continued efforts to revisit past disputes.
“Staff do not wish to return to in-person meetings, and I will respect that,” he said.
Coun. Marcia Maxwell also opposed the motion, questioning why PSHSA needed to return after already completing its report and recommendations.
“I don’t know why we’re going back to basically have another session with the PSHSA,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell argued council should now move into implementation mode instead of creating additional meetings involving staff and outside facilitators.
Coun. Paula Banks raised points of order during the debate and argued council members are too deeply in conflict to manage the process internally.
“We are in conflict with each other,” Banks said. “Conflict of interest.”
The motion ultimately passed in a recorded 5-3 vote.
Supporting the motion were Coun. Jeff Banks, Coun. Paula Banks, Coun. Linda Carr, Hutchings and Dunfield.
Voting against were Maxwell, Coun. Ron Pollard and Hoogenboom.
Coun. Dustin Bulloch was not in attendance.
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The Ministry of Municipal Affairs needs to simply disband this council and take over until elections in October. OMG when is enough ,enough. This is like an episode of the Gong Show. After all there is like 23 Integrity reports ,police involvement,Health and Safety involvement,,,,, Enough !
It is time to simply disband this Council and have Ministry of Municipal Affairs take over until October 2026 when the people of Rideau Lakes vote . Hopefully the next council can get along and get back to good governance of Rideau Lakes.