Saugeen Shores resident John Mann was escorted by police from council chambers after refusing to leave the podium. Photo by Fiona Robertson.Saugeen Shores resident John Mann was escorted by police from council chambers after refusing to leave the podium. Photo by Fiona Robertson.
Midwestern

Resident removed from Saugeen Shores Council Chambers

Saugeen Shores council was once again forced to halt a meeting to allow police to escort a man out of council chambers.

A recess was called after local resident John Mann refused to leave the podium. Council voted to not let him speak at open forum due to the “six-month rule” that prohibits a resident from addressing a topic twice within that time frame.

Mayor Luke Charbonneau called for a recess and the Saugeen Shores Police Department was called due to Mann "refusing to respect procedures and insisting on disrupting a council meeting".

Mann said he believes he should have been allowed to speak

“They didn’t give me an opportunity to give my reasons why the six-month rule did not apply, or why it should be waived. There’s no mechanism for a citizen to respond,” said Mann.

Mann was present at council two weeks ago, but council voted in favour of waiving the six-month rule and allowed him to speak at that time. This time, they voted to enforce the rule because he planned to address the same topic, procedural by-laws.

Man said he hasn’t decided if he will return to council in two weeks to speak again.

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