Stephen Manuel cites pressure from local residents, political interference for decision; Mayor expresses disappointment in decision
For the second time in less than a month, a councillor is resigning from the Lakeland Ridges Municipal Council.
The River Valley Sun has confirmed that at the Aug. 10 meeting, Deputy Mayor and Ward 3 representative Stephen Manuel will officially resign. Manuel sent a letter to the mayor and council on Thursday, Aug. 6, informing them of his decision.
At the July 13 meeting, Ward 1 Councillor Elizabeth Luimes submitted her resignation letter. When reached by the River Valley Sun, she said she would not comment on her reasons for leaving.
“I’m still coming to grips with the level of organized hate that is being directed at this council from mainly people in my own community,” wrote Manuel in an email on Saturday, Aug. 8. “And the people doing the organizing have been part of the last council or related to some of them.”
Manuel, who previously spent six years as a Meductic councillor and nine years as the community’s mayor, was appointed as a municipal supervisor of Lakeland Ridges in February 2024 after the Department of Environment and Local Government took control of the day-to-day operations. The first municipal council devolved into chaos shortly after amalgamation. Division among councillors meant the inability to pass motions, which caused the province to step in.
Déjà vu
Residents of Lakeland Ridges may feel like they’ve heard this story before.
In January 2024, then-Lakeland Ridges Mayor Tanya Cloutier and Ward 4 Councillors Mike Furrow and Mark Grant, representing the former village of Canterbury, resigned their seats, citing the ongoing dysfunction and continuing bullying by some council members.
Manuel says it’s frustrating to see the municipality in the same position two years later.
“This council wasn’t even given a chance to get our feet on the ground before attacks and complaints were made,” he told the River Valley Sun.
He said correspondence he received with a list of complaints signed by several people in Lakeland Ridges was “the last straw” for him, noting he initially put his name forward to work with a new team for the good of the whole community. Now Manuel feels that collaboration is close to impossible with certain council members, and the pressure councillors are feeling from the public is causing more problems.
“I find that the many complaints that were made were done to create mistrust and derail us before we even got started,” he wrote, adding that while the complaints were not personally directed at him, he felt it was in his best interest to step down.
“I came to the decision that perhaps my time would be better spent stepping aside and perhaps some of the complainers could step up and do a better job,” Manuel wrote.
Political interference
Manuel said interference by former premier David Alward is the most disheartening part of the story. Alward’s wife, Rhonda, is a Ward 3 councillor, representing Meductic.
“It is really sad when a former premier of the province feels the need to go to the press to criticize,” Manuel explained. “This is someone from my community who should be an expert on how a government should be treated.”
In a friends-only Facebook post about Lakeland Ridges’ June 30 council meeting, Alward called out the actions of council in relation to a motion to suspend the move of council offices from Meductic back to Canterbury.
The municipal headquarters was moved last year, but since then, asbestos was found in the building, and the municipality now faces charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act after the last council failed to get proper permits for the renovation.
“The use of scare tactics and the rushing in of a motion at the very end of a meeting encouraged by [Mayor Greg Grant] when there was no indication of anything being brought to a vote doesn’t speak to a democracy but a third-world kangaroo court,” he wrote, referring to a motion at that meeting to move the municipal offices.
Results of air quality testing came back with numbers well below the acceptable range for asbestos. The office move and asbestos issues continue to cause divisions within council.
Manuel said he felt the writing was on the wall, even before the first meeting.
“The division was very evident with some councillors attempting to get others on side with their agenda,” he wrote in an email. “I truly feel bad for our staff who have to deal with this every day.”
Manuel said none of the people who complained to him in writing had the “decency” to speak with him directly.
“I have never seen this level of hate for council in all my years,” he said.
Mayor responds to decision
Lakeland Ridges Mayor Greg Grant said he was disappointed in Manuel’s decision.
“The resignation… came as a great surprise and, personally, as a disappointment to me as Mayor of Lakeland Ridges,” he said in an email to the River Valley Sun.
“Steve was elected to council with a clear commitment to help move our municipality forward—to build a future based on equality, fairness, and equal opportunity for residents in all four wards of Lakeland Ridges. Throughout his time on council, he demonstrated an energetic commitment to those principles, along with sincerity, thoughtfulness, and a genuine desire to serve his community.”
Grant said Manuel’s presence around the council table will be missed.
“On behalf of the Municipality of Lakeland Ridges, and personally as Mayor, I thank Steve Manuel for his service, his commitment to our residents, and his willingness to stand for the principles he believed in. I wish him and his family all the very best in the future,” wrote the mayor.
