Matt Whitman is blaming the mayor for a delay that eventually resulted in a vote to temporarily remove a statue of Edward Cornwallis

One councillor is blaming the mayor for a delay that eventually resulted in a vote to temporarily remove a statue of Edward Cornwallis from a south end park.

On Tuesday, Halifax regional council voted 12-4 in favour of taking down the statue and putting it in storage until its long-term future can be decided.

Work on removing the statue began late Wednesday morning.

Last Friday, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs called for the statue's immediate removal because the process to review the commemoration of the city's controversial founder was taking too long.

Council had voted to launch a committee made up of community members and nominees put forward by the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs to examine Cornwallis, but they have yet to be announced.

According Hammonds Plains - St. Margarets councillor Matt Whitman, Mayor Mike Savage has had the names of the potential committee members since November, but hasn't given them to council.

"There was a delay caused from him sitting on these names since November until January, that delay caused the chiefs to walk away from the table, so the mayor is covering up," said Whitman.

Whitman believes Savage was vetting the candidates.

"The mayor didn't follow the process of our committees," said Whitman. "He is not the one to vet potential committee members, that's the job of council."

Mike Savage said there's nothing unusual about the way this process has been proceeding.

"Staff had to put together a staff report, so that's what they were doing," explained Savage. "It was going to come to council in December, and we identified an issue to be dealt with before it came, so there's nothing unusual in that."

The list of potential committee members has yet to be made public, however media reports identify Wilbert Marshall as one of the names put forward by the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs.

Marshall was convicted of sexual assault in 2008.

Whitman took to social media to vent his frustrations about the statue removal, publicly speculating that Marshall's nomination caused the delay in process which resulted in the vote taking place.

Savage wouldn't say whether or not Marshall was being considered for the panel.

"There's a problem with breaking the in-camera provisions of council, and that would be the same with any order of government, any organization, any company, you simply don't disclose any issues that are private in nature until they've been resolved and they go public," said the mayor.

Savage said Whitman needs to understand that media reports don't change what can and can't be said in public.

"This is not me gagging Councillor Whitman, I did offer him advice last night that this was not an appropriate course of action."

Whitman said he received a text from Savage this morning, but the councillor says his comments are based on information available to the public, so he feels he's not breaking any rules.

"I'm not worried because I'm speaking out for my residents," said Whitman. "I'm speaking in public about a public article."