‘I abstained because I got a phone call’

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This article was published 27/10/2023 (558 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A threatening phone call lead to a tie vote by Springfield council on the development agreement for Sio Silica’s sand mine processing facility planned to be built by Vivian east of Anola.

After a rezoning passed 3-2 in June, Coun. Melinda Warren decided to abstain on the agreement negotiated by municipal staff and Sio Silica, resulting in a 2-2 tie.

The municipal board last October ordered Springfield to rezone the land and come up with a development agreement. Without one, three days of public hearings were held in Dugald with the municipal board due to make a decision on whether to pass the agreement, change it, or throw it out.

Alleged threats were submitted as evidence to the board by the RM and the company.

“I never thought I’d be here arguing these sort of facts, dealing with these sorts of facts. But the fact of the matter is one of my council members was threatened, which is an extraordinary set of circumstances.”

“It is not a leap, Mr. Mercury’s comments are not unwarranted, it is not a leap to imagine how that vote would have carried without the threat,” said RM of Springfield lawyer Faron Trippier at the hearing on Tuesday.

He said good faith work with Sio got the development agreement done and submitted to council.

“And council deadlocked because of a threat. And I will also add if necessary if directed by you, I will see if Ms. Warren would be available to testify about it, but I don’t want to put her through that. I don’t think there’s any quarrel about what went on here,” said Trippier.

Coun. Warren was not called to testify, but she explained to The Carillon what happened.

“Basically, I abstained because I got a phone call,” said Coun. Warren.

“I got a phone call and (they) said a few things that were concerning; and so I look at my family first before I make any decision. That’s where I stand,” explained Warren.

She added that she was still looking out for residents of Springfield.

“Everybody’s concerned with contamination with the aquifer, but that’s not this board hearing,” said Warren.

She was referring to how the drilling for the sand was a separate application from the processing facility, as requested by the Province.

“I’m protecting my family and myself, and the municipal board has my submission with my [situation],” said Warren.

She was asked if she would have voted for the facility’s development agreement if there was no threat, as suggested by Sio and RM lawyers.

“I understand what a development agreement is. I grew up in a family of political people. And as I stated on June 19 (at council), a development agreement is there to protect the residents of Springfield or any place. When you have a development agreement, that’s what protects the residents. I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no. It’s a negotiation tool between a business and the RM,” said Warren.

On the same day she abstained from voting on the development agreement, Warren voted to approve the new zoning that allows the sand refining facility. She was asked why she voted yes to one and not the other.

“In my interpretation of the municipal board order, as soon as the board order came across, in my opinion it was a done deal that they ordered us to change it,” she said.

The municipal board also ordered the RM to get a development agreement done.

“Yes, they did,” responded Warren, not wanting to say if she would have supported the agreement if there was no threat.

“I’ve heard the residents; I’m hearing the residents,” responded Warren.

And Coun. Warren was not the only one to receive threats, according to Sio Silica chief operating officer Brent Bullen.

“I never thought in my life I’d be told you don’t live here, go home. We’re Canadians, we have a better standard than that,” said Bullen at the hearing Tuesday.

Bullen also said that CEO Feisal Somji faced racist remarks telling him to go back where he came from.

Later when challenged on whether he was threatened with violence, Bullen said he was told by a resident that he was “willing to die” to stop the project at the Clean Environment Commission (CEC) this spring. Bullen said he made a police report on the comment.

Board chair Dan McInnis said he would not allow the story of threats to Melinda Warren to influence any decision.

“It won’t get any weight,” he said.

The CEC undertook a technical review and public hearing on the extraction wells to remove water and silica sand from groundwater that would supply the facility being discussed at this week’s hearing. Its report was released in July with recommendations for the Province to consider before it decides whether to approve the mining estimated to last 24 years.