INNISFAIL – Town council held its special council meeting on Aug. 19 armed with a plan to blunt any unruly behaviour from anti-carbon removal protesters.
But they stayed away.
At least for now.
There was no unruly behaviour whatsoever at the Aug. 19 council meeting.
It went peacefully ahead without any loud interruptions from the gallery that plagued the previous Aug. 12 council meeting.
However, local RCMP members and Innisfail peace officers were in attendance.
Following the raucous Aug. 12 council meeting, which ended with the unprecedented decision to suspend proceedings, the Town of Innisfail and Deep Sky, the Quebec-based company planning to construct a $50 million carbon removal facility, partnered with a comprehensive plan to ensure future local meetings about the project are civil and respectful.
The Aug. 19 meeting, which was not originally planned by the town, was held to finish the adjourned council meeting the week before.
Even though it appeared at the beginning of the meeting that vocal militants were absent, mayor Jean Barclay recited parts of the Council Procedure Bylaw, which gave council the legislative authority to ensure citizens are respectful and maintaining order.
The bylaw also gives the mayor the authority to have agitators expelled from the council chamber.
“I don't believe the public would necessarily have an understanding of expectations for behaviour in council chambers, and yes, most people are going to be just fine,” Barclay told the Albertan following the Aug. 19 meeting, “I think it's important for people to know we do have a Council Procedure Bylaw, and part of that bylaw covers public conduct.
“And so, we need to set an expectation that there's not going to be tolerance going forward of the behaviour that we saw the week before where we had to adjourn the meeting,” added the mayor. “Going forward we'll have zero tolerance for that kind of behaviour.”
However, there remains significant online chatter from anti-carbon removal citizens over the Deep Sky project.
Barclay told the Albertan she was not surprised that project opponents, including the militant faction, chose to stay away from the Aug. 19 meeting.
“No, because they're in a special council meeting. There's no provision for an open mic,” said Barclay. “It didn't surprise me that they were not there.”
In the meantime Deep Sky announced last week there will be back-to-back three-hour open house meetings for the public at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre on Sept. 18, from noon to 3 p.m., and Sept. 19 from 5 to 8 p.m.
“I just hope people will come to the open house and learn about this project. I think there's obviously a misunderstanding about the process for businesses who are opening in our community,” said Barclay. “As long as you know your type of business matches the land use zoning there's no requirement to go to the community to get permission from the community.”
“It's an industrial business opening in the industrial park,” she added. “It's a perfect fit.”
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