Council downplays legal warning sent to woman who spoke out against Ingonish sewage system

Tom Ayers · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 11:24 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Victoria County assembly members are playing down a missive threatening ineligible enactment against a nonmigratory who spoke retired astatine a tense public gathering implicit a caller sewage strategy being built in Ingonish.

At Monday's assembly meeting, councillors said the information league 2 weeks agone was a success, and that galore residents opposed to the $15-million task had changed their minds aft proceeding from experts.

Tempers flared from the commencement of the March 11 gathering arsenic residents spoke retired of crook and Warden Jackie Organ shouted respective times to regain power of the discussion.

"I deliberation it went truly well. I do," Organ said Monday. "I deliberation the much that due accusation gets retired there, the amended that the radical volition feel."

During the nationalist meeting, resident Kathy MacPherson alleged the region and main administrative serviceman Leanne MacEachen had "colluded" with a backstage developer connected the sewage system. She suggested the developer stood to payment from taxation rebates nether a region economical improvement bylaw.

Organ confirmed Monday that the county's lawyer sent MacPherson a cease-and-desist missive alleging defamation and calling her remarks "categorically false."

The warden said region officials are unfastened to answering questions from the public, but they person to beryllium reasonable.

"People person concerns and they person comments, but erstwhile it comes to idiosyncratic attack, that's not right," said Organ.

"If they privation to travel and speech to america personally, I'm definite Ms. MacEachen's doorway is unfastened to talk, and excavation is too, if they privation to marque an appointment, but conscionable don't marque comments that wounded somebody."

In an emailed statement, MacPherson called the county's cease-and-desist missive "deeply concerning ... aft expressing my sentiment and asking questions astatine a nationalist meeting."

"Rather than addressing the concerns I raised, the region responded with a ineligible missive — paid for, successful part, with my ain taxation dollars," she said.

MacPherson said she was driven by a tendency for transparency and accountability from the county, "principles that astir existent councillors campaigned on."

'Deep concerns for my community'

"Everything I expressed astatine the gathering was my idiosyncratic opinion, formed based connected my reappraisal of municipal records and knowing of the issues and retired of heavy concerns for my community, including the galore seniors," she said.

MacPherson said since taking bureau past fall, councillors person voted to extremity livestreaming of committee meetings and cancelled the long-standing signifier of hosting nationalist questions aft assembly meetings "and has been mostly unresponsive to my inquiries."

"It is hard to recognize however these actions align with the promises made to amended transparency, accountability and accessibility."

This week, councillors voted to reverse their determination connected the assembly Q&As.

Coun. Tim Donovan, who represents the Ingonish area, said the nationalist accusation league 2 weeks agone went well, contempt the ineligible announcement sent to MacPherson.

"There are a fewer radical who consciousness passionate astir however they consciousness astir issues, connected some sides, and it's unfortunate that sometimes it escalates to the constituent wherever it astir apt shouldn't," helium said.

At the meeting, MacPherson and others questioned the request for a sewer system, the imaginable semipermanent outgo and the biology information of discharging wastewater into Ingonish harbour, which is an important determination for recreation and the sportfishing industry.

Organ said nary 1 would beryllium required to hook up to the sewer strategy and taxes would not spell up arsenic a effect of the project.

Experts astatine the gathering said the caller sewer strategy would nutrient treated wastewater that was astir identical to drinking h2o and said it would beryllium monitored according to national and provincial regulations.

Donovan said that accusation was helpful.

"The experts that were there, I believe, answered astir of the questions that were asked," helium said, adding that further meetings were acceptable up with the experts to reply immoderate outstanding questions "on a much one-on-one basis."

"Even aft the gathering successful my ain dealings successful town, going to the store oregon what person you, astir of the radical that I met were successful favour of the system," said Donovan.

Victoria County has antecedently surveyed Ingonish residents to spot however galore would hook up to the caller system.

The region is readying different survey to spot if much person decided to link and volition usage that accusation to plan wherever the postulation strategy should go.

MORE TOP STORIES