Tensions boiled over during a council meeting in the small Vancouver Island community of Tahsis Tuesday night, ending in a yelling match with a councillor taking the gavel from the deputy mayor.
"We are going to talk as long as we want," yelled a resident after Deputy Mayor Sarah Fowler stopped a speaker who went over the allotted time.
In the live stream footage of the meeting, Fowler is heard saying, "I have the gavel," which she repeatedly banged as another person shouted, "I don't care what you got, you do not treat us like that."
In the village of Tahsis, a two-minute maximum is allotted for each speaker appearing before the council during the public input session. Throughout the hearing, several speakers went over the limit.
In one instance, a speaker proceeds for five minutes with Fowler three times, telling her the time is up. Fowler then proceeds to bang the gavel repeatedly.
Councillor Douglas Elliott then walks up to Fowler's chair and takes the gavel away.
"I don't need that; I can do this," said Fowler as she slammed the table to shouts from an attendee calling her a child.
CBC municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy first reported on the council meeting and shared the story explaining why tensions were so heightened.
After sharing a video from the meeting on social media, Fowler responded.
"This was by far my worst day in local government in the last 5 years,” she wrote on Twitter.
Fowler also stated on social media that the "temperature" at the village's public hearings has been simmering since the municipal election.
"When people talk about tar and feathers after the two-minute limit, it is very personal. Recruiting people to run for political office is hard enough," said Fowler.
The entire meeting can be watched here.
