Councillors in Norman Wells have formally passed a resolution sanctioning one of their number for a range of alleged violations.
The resolution, imposing sanctions on councillor Heidi Hodgson, was passed at a special meeting on Friday after a meeting earlier this week was abandoned eight minutes in.
Hodgson is accused of breaking council confidentiality and libelling council colleagues among other infractions. She denies the allegations.
Council voted four to one in favour of sanctions on Friday, Hodgson being the lone vote opposed.
The measures read into the record at Friday’s meeting include that Hodgson:
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- cannot “address outside bodies as councillor,” will be prohibited from council travel and is barred from serving on council committees for six months;
- must respect council decisions in public and communicate with the municipality only through the mayor, not staff;
- must “ensure that she always speaks with verifiable fact and not assumption or accusation”;
- cannot keep any “private personnel information”; and
- must “attend extensive ethics training with a focus on her fiduciary duty as a member of council.”
Council also said it will “develop a fair evaluation process for councillor Hodgson and will publish the results of said evaluation to the public.”
Hodgson, responding to that list, reiterated her denial of wrongdoing.
“I take my office seriously and all of my actions have been undertaken in good faith and in furtherance of my duties to the residents of Norman Wells,” she said.
Hodgson alleged council had failed to follow its own complaint and investigation procedures. She suggested some members of council and staff are connected to ongoing litigation that she linked to the sanctions against her, questioning whether “recusal and impartiality considerations were addressed.”
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“As the only Indigenous member of this council, I also request that any disciplinary process applied to me be demonstrably consistent, proportionate and applied equally to all members in comparable circumstances,” Hodgson concluded.
“I remain fully committed to my oath of office and to serving the people of Norman Wells with integrity, and I will submit a full written response for the record.”
Taylor Machura, the town’s governance officer, said the NWT’s Department of Municipal and Community Affairs had seen and “checked” the contents of the resolution passed on Friday, as had the municipality’s lawyer.
New attendance procedure
Council used the same special meeting to establish a finance transition committee that Machura said will “provide strategic advice and recommendations to council respecting financial oversight and transition planning,” as well as introduce a council attendance procedure.
Hodgson voted against the attendance procedure – the detail of which was not immediately available – saying she felt it targeted her.
“I believe this document is unnecessary, punitive and inconsistent with how a small community council should operate,” Hodgson said.
“These measures treat elected representatives like children who must justify their presence or absence, rather than adults who have put their names forward to serve their community.”
Hodgson said some of her own absences from council meetings had been the result of “exclusion and intimidating behaviour” that led her to conclude attending would not be safe.
“I am committed to fulfilling my duties as a councillor. What I’m asking for is a respectful and safe environment in which to do so. This attendance procedure does not address the root issues affecting participation and I do not support it,” she said.
Mayor Frank Pope, responding, said: “The electorate, the people who elect us, deserve to know if we are showing up, working diligently on their behalf, or if we’re not showing up. And I think the attendance policy will do that for us.”
