A town council meeting in Tahsis saw a gavel taken from the deputy mayor during a heated exchange last week. The regularly schedule meeting had a variety of topics on the agenda, but the controversy was related to a decision to censure fellow Coun. Douglas Elliot.

On March 21, Deputy Mayor Sarah Fowler was leading a council meeting when community members and a councillor caused chaos with several disruptions, with censured Coun. Elliot eventually swiping the gavel from Fowler.

Fowler can be heard in the meeting stating the agenda: “Unanimously passed a motion of censure and related sanctions for counselor Elliot's Contravention.”

This was met with "boos" from community members sitting in, allegedly supporters of Elliot. 

The incident was live streamed and recorded, reappearing in headlines on MSN, CBC, and Vancouver is Awesome. Afterwards, the deputy mayor attempted to focus on a less controversial aspect of the meeting when responding to the kerfuffle on Twitter, pointing to the town's decision to become a living wage employer.

The Vancouver Island's community of Tahsis is populated with less than 400 people; it is a part of Electoral Area A of the Strathcona Regional District (SRD), the district Cortes Island is in. Fowler was performing her duties as deputy mayor in the absence of Mayor Martin Davis.

According to CBC, after the meeting, the deputy mayor commented on Twitter that is was an unfortunately memorable day for her. 

“This was by far my worst day in local government in the last five years,” the CBC article reported. 

In her Twitter post, Fowler directed attention to a positive outcome from the meeting: the decision for the city to become a living wage employer. 

“WHEREAS A living wage is the hourly amount a family needs to cover basic expenses (based on a two-parent family with 2 children and both parents working fulltime),” the Tahsis agenda states

 Living wage for families BC is the certification body for businesses that are offering fair living wages to all their employees. 

The closest region listed on the website to Cortes Island is Powell River. The estimated living wage in Powell River is currently $23.33 per hour. There do not appear to be any businesses on Cortes Island listed as living wage employers.

To hear more about the controversial council meeting, listen to the CKTZ News Update below: