Gordon Mackenzie shares reasons for council exit
Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, who recently became Nipigon’s third councillor to resign since council convened in December 2022, has revealed the reasons for his exit.
In a statement released on April 17, Mackenzie cited the departure of former chief administrative officer Kelly Paakkunainen, his discomfort with councillors’ words not matching their actions, a prior agreement between council and another former councillor that went unhonoured, and the way that council handled a municipal accomodation tax (MAT) resolution in late March as his specific reasons for leaving.
“After a long and critical personal deliberation, and in order to maintain my integrity, mental, and physical health, I have regretfully made the decision to step down. Thank you to those who voted for me in the last municipal election,” Mackenzie wrote.
He also expressed his regret and apologized to constituents for supporting Mayor Suzanne Kukko during the last municipal election, in which he and Kukko ran a partnership campaign.
“I feel that I made a personal mistake . . . I should have remained impartial,” he wrote.
In terms of the MAT resolution, Mackenzie felt that council ignored a community petition and his own suggestions when it came to how to implement such a tax.
“A municipal accommodations tax resolution for a levy starting this summer period was passed March 26, 2024, by only two members of council, one of whom was acting mayor, with myself opposed, while a fourth member was unable to attend the council meeting nor allowed to vote because of extremely poor highway road conditions, but was available via Zoom.
"There are absolutely no Nipigon motel owners who are in support of this initiative at this time. All eight proprietors signed a petition contesting this tax and presented their unanimous opposition to council at its regular meeting held December 5, 2023.
“At the last council meeting I attended on March 26, 2024, I asked for this resolution to be deferred at least until the construction of the new multi-million dollar Parks Canada visitor and administration building was complete and at which time our community would truly have a unique destination attraction,” he wrote.
Mackenzie’s resignation was made official at Nipigon’s regular council meeting on April 9 – with a follow-up meeting held on April 11 to discern whether or not the councillor’s position would be filled through a by-election or by appointment.
Kukko shared a statement with Dougall Media in response to Mackenzie’s resignation.
“On behalf of council, I would like to thank Mr. Mackenzie for his service to our community. He will be missed, and we wish him well in his future endeavours,” she wrote.
In January 2023, John Zechner resigned and Glen Hart replaced him in late February. Then Pierre Pelletier resigned in late April, and Gayle Westhaver was sworn in to fill the seat on June 6.
Council was scheduled to hold a special council meeting on Thursday, April 11 to discuss whether they will hold a by-election or fill the position by appointment.
Austin Campbell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, SNnewswatch.com
