The provincial government is weighing options for McBride after three councillors resigned, leaving the northern town east of Prince George without quorum.
Minister of Community Peter Fassbender said he recently learned of the resignations of councillors Sharon Reichert, Ralph Bezanson and Edith Tracy. Government staff are "scrambling" to give him an update.
With the three gone, that leaves Mayor Loranne Martin and Coun. Rick Thompson to govern.
"They cannot or should not be making any significant future-looking decisions until they have a full council," said Fassbender, who encouraged the mayor to ensure essential services are maintained. "The caretaker mode is the only type of business that really be conductive at this point."
Fassbender has two options under the Community Charter: he can determine that two is enough or he can "appoint qualified individuals to fill the vacancies until persons are elected."
Martin did not immediately respond to The Citizen's afternoon request for comment. She told 250 News that the issue was attendance, and that councillors were absent for "a number of meetings," leaving the council without quorum.
"Several meetings of council have been cancelled recently due to lack of quorum which has resulted in council being unable to perform its legislated duties," 250 News reported.
The Citizen looked at eight meetings minutes over the last five months and found the three who resigned were all absent on one occasion and Martin on two. Not all minutes were posted, which mark those present and absent, including the two most recent meetings in late October and early November so it's unclear if the scheduled meetings occurred and who was present. Bezanson and Reichert were absent Sept. 13, Tracy was absent June 28, and Martin was absent Aug. 9 and June 14.
Over Facebook, Reichert called the statement "ridiculous," saying that there are "real problems" in McBride.
"I resigned for a few reasons, but I would say the number (one) reason would be that I sincerely hope the ministry will step in and investigate," said, Reichert, who did not immediately respond to follow-up clarifying why she resigned and what needed to be investigated.
In a posting on the McBride Discussion Board Facebook page, Reichert said the three had contacted B.C.'s ombudsperson and several other places.
"Desperate for help, and (hit) brick walls. The system is very faulty," she wrote.
McBride's website noted its Nov. 21 meeting is cancelled, but didn't state the reason, and only Thompson and Martin are listed as contacts.
This isn't the first recent political upheaval for the community. Last March, four employees and one councillor resigned.
While Fassbender said he was waiting for more information on a path forward, he did hint that he favoured appointing more to the dwindling body.
"A quorum of two is not really a quorum."
He said appointees would likely be from the region as a qualified individual must be someone who is "intimately aware of the issues and the day to day needs of the community.
"Traditionally I would think you would be looking from someone in the area," he said. "That also creates tension because there may be positions that have been taken in the community that are polarized so it becomes a really fine line of who's qualified in who's eyes."
Fassbender said it was too early to comment on a timeline for a decision or what it means to have three resign at once just over a year after other resignations in the town.
"Sometimes it's personal issues... When it becomes a group of people who were elected to work on behalf of the citizens, of course it raises concerns and the citizens have a right to be asking what is going on. I will not make comment without having solid information.
"We don't really get embroiled in local issues or disputes. That's up for the elected officials and up for the community. We don't live there, we don't know the pulse," he said. "It's early days. We're moving as quickly as we can for my staff to prepare recommendations to me."
