Wilmot council moves forward with working group on future of Prime Ministers’ Path

Councillors in Wilmot have voted to move forward with a working group to help decide next steps in the controversial Prime Ministers Path project.

The move follows a motion brought forward in January to find solutions for the project. On February 26, staff returned with three options. The options including maintaining current direction with a working group, engaging further with the community if a working group was need, or a by-election-like referendum.

Ward 4 councillor Lillianne Dunstall said she would be in favour of the working group as long as it focused on getting input from the community

“There were certainly many citizens that feel they didn’t have their voices heard,” said Dunstall. “I appreciate a working group, and I think that’s great. But I want to make sure it goes out to everybody so we have a variety of different viewpoints, so when we do get to a decision, it encompasses the entire township.

In 2021, the First People’s Group recommended the removal of the statues and the implementation of a working group. They heard from 475 residents over a six-week period through several engagement activities. The council of the day was reported to have spent over $95,000 on retaining the group as well as legal fees during the controversy.

One delegate, Andrew Kipp, voiced his support for the working group adding that the project is complicated, messy and divisive.

“We stand in Wilmot Township at the centre of a national discussion,” said Kipp. “Our discussion is our identity as a country. What does that mean, how do you tend with that, how to we express that and how to we deal with all the messy parts of our history?”

Council requested more information to be investigated for further engagement and alternative options suggestion. It suggested that a firm would be hired using the CASMARI funding it was awarded in 2021. The estimated costs would have been between $45,000-$60,000.

A referendum would have cost between $116,000 to $163,000 and would need at least 50 per cent of the population to vote in order to make it binding. The voter turnout in the 2022 municipal election was just over 40 per cent.

Currently, the township is paying $661.44 a month to store the statues. Since the statues were taken down in 2020, the township has spent $23,252.

Next steps are for staff to hire a firm using the CASMARI grant to figure out how to implement the working group, terms of reference and mandate, a selection process and then giving advice to the group on how to operate. The fund must be used by June 2024 in order to be accessible.

Staff is aiming to hire a firm by the end of the April to help coordinate the working group and have it formed by September.