Outspoken Dalhousie councillor loses seat for good in unanimous council vote

A Dalhousie councillor who was twice suspended from council after locking horns with the mayor has been removed from the post after missing four meetings in a row.

Town council voted to remove Mickey Maloney on Monday night at its regular meeting, with all councillors in attendance voting in favour.

Maloney was not at the meeting.

It has been more than six months since Maloney last attended a council meeting.

Mayor Normand Pelletier tossed Maloney from a meeting in November 2017 for alleged abusive language and was thrown out again in December after getting into a verbal altercation with the mayor.

"Coun. Maloney had never returned to any meeting to even show his face," said council treasurer and clerk Gilles Legacy.

"Had he come and contacted town hall and said, 'I'm coming to the next meeting and I would like to address mayor and council' — none of this was done. He just disappeared. So council decided it was time to let him go."

Council had already given Maloney a chance to apologize and return to work, Legacy said.

"This was clearly stated more than once."

The Local Governance Act says any councillor missing from more than four consecutive meetings can be removed, he said.

There will likely be a byelection in either November or December to fill the vacant seat, Legacy said.