Chris Clegg
The war of words that erupted at the Aug. 12 High Prairie town council meeting certainly does not do anyone any good. Please see story at the top of this page.
Make no mistake. All three comments were inappropriate.
However, the most difficult statement to understand is Councillor Therese Yacyshyn when she told Councillor Judy Stenhouse, “Then council doesn’t work for you.” It was obviously in reference to the fact Stenhouse could not attend a meeting at the scheduled time. Why is this perplexing? Let me explain.
At the organizational meeting each year, council appoints members to serve on committees.
Appointments are made by council because the committee is deemed important enough to warrant attendance. Otherwise, the appointment would not be made. Council knows this. Keep that in mind.
In 2024, council suspended Stenhouse and Councillor Sacha Martens from committee work until the end of 2024. At the Feb. 11, 2025 meeting, council held a “mini-organizational meeting” where committee appointments were assigned. At the meeting, Yacyshyn was appointed to serve on the High Prairie Museum Board. Mayor Brian Panasiuk was appointed as the alternate.
When members of any council accept committee appointments, they promise to make every effort to attend. In fact, it is their duty. If they can’t attend, is why an alternate is appointed.
So, here we have Yacyshyn telling Stenhouse “council doesn’t work for you” because of the difficulty of attending a meeting.
However, Yacyshyn was appointed to the High Prairie Museum Board at the Feb. 11 meeting. The museum board meets monthly. I know. I was a member. Yacyshyn did not attend one regular meeting from February to June. She admitted that fact later in the meeting when another matter arose regarding utilities. Yacyshyn admitted she never attended a meeting.
As alternate, Panasiuk also never attended a regular meeting.
Legitimate questions arise. I posed the questions to Yacyshyn why she did not attend the regular meetings and if she advised Panasiuk to attend in her absence.
No answer.
I asked Panasiuk if he was advised to attend the meetings in Yachshyn’s absence. And if so, why did he not attend.
No answer.
When the museum board indicated a desire to turn museum operations over to the Town, both did attend meetings. Let us not confuse the issue here, however. Both did not attend regular meetings for over four months and are not offering any excuses.
As for the rest of council, where were you? Months and months of meetings and no reports. You all decided Feb. 11 that attending museum board meetings was important enough to make the appointments. Councillor Donna Deynaka sat for years on the museum board and gave excellent reports back to council. Why didn’t she question the absence of reports?
This is the accountability council says it strives to attain?
There have already been accusations tossed around I am in conflict because I am a member of the museum board. Really? So, if another member of the public asked the same questions, they would get a response. Are you kidding me?
And consider this. I also chair the High Prairie Community Beautification Association. Since I am chair does that mean I can no longer compliment the town staff for the excellent job they do each year because I am “in conflict of interest” and not allowed to comment?
Yacyshyn’s criticism of Stenhouse was no more than a tit-for-tat response to an inappropriate comment. How Yacyshyn can criticize Stenhouse when her attendance record at the museum board was deplorable is ridiculous.