Tantramar Council had its first ever open discussion on Monday about a longstanding request from local group, Sackville Ceasefire Now.
The discussion came about after a petition signed by 226 people was presented by assistant clerk Becky Goodwin, requesting, “that Tantramar Council write a letter to the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, to request that the federal government call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and an increased flow of humanitarian aid.”
A report on the petition listed two options for council: either write the letter or don’t. There was no staff recommendation, because as Goodwin told councillors, the issue is one of governance, and it was up to Mayor and council how to proceed.
In the end, councillors spent about ten minutes discussing the Sackville Ceasefire Now request and then moved on without a resolution either way.
According to explanations from staff at the end of the meeting, there was no option available to councillors on Monday to start a formal response to the request. The only response possible can only happen at council’s April 9 meeting, or at any future regular meeting of council, when any councillor can submit a notice of motion. That motion would then appear on council’s agenda the following month for discussion and a vote.
On Monday, Councillor Allison Butcher started off the discussion of what she called a “contentious” issue. “At the risk of receiving hate mail again, I’d like to speak up about this,” said Butcher.
Butcher went on to say that she felt the topic wasn’t in council’s area of governance, but that she also felt the need to speak out against the violence, drawing a parallel to silence around the mistreatment of Jews in the lead up to World War II.
In an interview after the meeting, Butcher said she was not considering coming forward with a motion. “I personally believe that what is happening is awful,” said Butcher. “And I personally believe that our federal government should be doing something about it. But I also do not think that is within the control of the municipal government.”
Regarding the hate mail she mentioned at the meeting, Butcher said “there are people who feel very strongly about this on both sides. And atrocities are happening, so I can understand that people are very upset about them. And I guess they feel like they wish that we could all do more.” Butcher said the correspondence she received was not threatening.
Councillor Michael Tower said he felt there were two sides to the conflict, that the issue was not a municipal responsibility. He also advised the Sackville Ceasefire Coalition to approach Beausejour MP and Minister Dominic Leblanc with their request.
Councillor Debbie Wiggins Colwell spoke briefly, and was the lone voice saying she would support a letter to the prime minister. “It is an atrocity what’s happening,” said Wiggins-Colwell. “It just so emotional, that it’s even hard to talk about.”
Councillor Bruce Phinney echoed the term ‘atrocity’ in his comments, but also the argument that Israel was not solely responsible for those atrocities, and that the whole matter is a federal one. “I don’t feel that actually putting a motion forward is going to make a big difference,” said Phinney. “I really don’t. So I can’t see any reason why we need to do that.”
Mayor Andrew Black also chimed in on the discussion.
“I think most people can agree that what’s going on in Gaza is atrocious,” said Black. “The loss of life is significant. Some of the more recent atrocities around people trying to secure food and being killed for doing that is pretty extreme and pretty terrible. But getting down to the brass tacks of what the ask is, this really is not within our jurisdiction or responsibility to do.”
Members of Sackville Ceasefire Now issued a statement after Monday’s meeting, saying they were “deeply dismayed to hear evaluations and comments made on the genocide in Gaza by council members and mayor which lacked any meaningful research and substantive reflection.”
The group reiterated its message that the violence in Gaza is deeply affecting Tantramar and New Brunswick residents, and the group said it strongly disagrees with council’s assessment that a letter to the federal government would fall outside municipal jurisdiction and responsibility.
The group also noted that it was not notified by the Tantramar clerk about the inclusion of the petition on Monday’s Committee of the Whole agenda, though they provided contact information for that reason. At council’s last regular meeting in March, the group was denied a two-minute time slot for a presentation due to a misunderstanding about the start time of the meeting, and the rules around signing up to speak.
The group’s statement on Monday calls out a lack of continuity and transparency in the “interpretations of procedural by-laws and communication from staff, council members and the Mayor during this process.”
The group says it plans to continue to engage with all levels of government on its request.
