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This article was published 2/5/2017 (1233 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government says it will appoint someone to run the RM of Ritchot after the sudden resignations of three of its five elected officials.

An appointed administrator will have the power to make decisions on behalf of the council because the remaining council can no longer form a quorum of three votes, the province said in a statement.

Tuesday evening's scheduled monthly council meeting was cancelled.

"The RM is, in effect, in receivership," said Elmer Hywarren, a former councillor in Ritchot who still follows its politics closely. "It can't do anything. Someone else has to do it."

Mayor Jackie Hunt resigned Friday, followed Monday by councillors Jeannot Robert and Ronald Mamchuk.

Hunt blamed a hostile environment created by the two remaining councillors.

"When a council cannot function as a group, and when mediation does not work, and when name-calling and belligerent behaviour become the norm, it is time to re-evaluate your spot on the table," she said in a statement.

She praised Robert, Mamchuk and chief administrator Mitch Duval but made no mention of remaining councillors Ernie Dumaine and Corinne Webb.

Hunt was in her first term as mayor. She was a known favourite of retiring mayor Bob Stefaniuk, and some people in the area say Stefaniuk, when still in office, helped groom her for council and a possible run at becoming mayor. She won a tough mayoral race with a sizable majority.

Council has been divided since the last election in 2014.

Committee meetings often devolved into shouting matches, pitting Hunt, Robert and Mamchuk against Dumaine and Webb.

"There has basically been bad blood between them," Hywarren said.

An elected official of another capital region municipality said councils can quickly become dysfunctional. "You don't get to pick the team, and some people are running on an agenda."

Ritchot flanks Winnipeg's southern boundary and includes Ste. Agathe, St. Adolphe, Grande Pointe and Île-des-Chênes.

The two councillors being blamed for the acrimony did not return email messages, and their voicemail boxes were full.

The last straw was apparently a hearing two weeks ago for a conditional use permit to allow the construction of a hockey rink in a small park in a new development in St. Adolphe.

Council had run into opposition from the owners of an adjacent home, who complained the rink — which could be used as a basketball court in summer — would be within two metres of their property.

The permit was approved by the usual 3-2 vote. Hunt was reportedly confronted by Webb, resulting in a heated exchange.

Stefaniuk said he has not followed local politics closely since his retirement and declined comment on the situation.

"(Hunt is) a good person, a nice person," he said. "I've no doubt about her abilities."

Hunt, who declined an interview, lamented in her statement "there is currently no mechanism in The Municipal Act that allows for elected officials to be disciplined for behaviour that would not be tolerated in any other work environment.

"There is a Council Code of Conduct, but it allows only for censuring, which is ultimately a public slap on the wrist."

Hunt said in the statement she felt she had to resign.

"I gave up my seat so that it might start a conversation at the municipal and provincial levels of government about how to better protect the residents that want to serve our communities. If I stayed and did nothing, then I became complicit and accepting of the behaviour."

She said the statement would be her last on the matter and she plans to focus her energies on her children and charitable works.

The appointed administrator will be in charge of the municipality's day-to-day operations, the province said. Byelections will be called as soon as practically possible, the statement said.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca