Village of Pouce Coupe appeals Supreme Court decision to reinstate mayor’s portfolio

POUCE COUPE, B.C. – The Village of Pouce Coupe is appealing the B.C. Supreme Court’s decision to reinstate Mayor Lorraine Michetti to her portfolios and duties after the court’s ruling on the matter was handed down in March.

Pouce Coupe council believes the appeal to be in the public interest—not just of members of the village but of all of British Columbia. 

“As the Village Council believes that the appeal is of importance to all municipalities in British Columbia, it has sought funding for the appeal from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities,” the village said in a statement.

Should the appeal be upheld at the Court of Appeal and the previous decision overturned, it would create a precedent that would affect all municipalities in B.C. 

The court’s decision, the second within the span of the year, reversed Pouce Coupe council’s decision to remove the mayor from her portfolio positions a second time last October.

Michetti was first stripped of her portfolio positions by council after controversial social media posts and comments made in February 2021, allegedly comparing gun owners to holocaust victims and using stereotypes of Indigenous people to mock environmental protests. 

A court restored these positions last summer.

The following autumn, Michetti made accusations surrounding media portrayal of unvaccinated individuals in hospitals. She was stripped of her portfolio positions in October after two new councillors were selected in a by-election.

Judge Fitzpatrick’s decision at the B.C. Supreme Court in March determined that the council’s decision to remove her lacked procedural fairness. He noted in the decision that council’s decision was made to censure and sanction the mayor.

Council argued that it did not owe a duty of fairness to the mayor with respect to the motion of removal and that the motion was not a form of censure.

Lorraine Michetti was unavailable for comment.