Gammie And South Bruce Peninsula Council Head To Court

South Bruce Peninsula council is heading to court to defend its decision to remove a fellow councillor from two committees.

Craig Gammie is seeking to have the appointments bylaw quashed, which removed him from the committee of adjustment and the board of directors for the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority.

Gammie claims the removals are illegal and he's asking a judge to overturn the bylaw.

Mayor Janice Jackson says she's embarrassed that Gammie is turning to the courts because he's unhappy with being replaced on the committees, adding she's confident council's decision will be upheld.

"I can pretty much assure you that any judge is going to say council has every right to appoint any member that they want on those committees," says Jackson.

Gammie says any suggestion that he's costing taxpayers money by taking the issue to court is misleading.

"Don't try to put that on me.  If the judge says that this was illegal, then who's costing the taxpayers money?  You should be asking that question of the rest of the council members who made the decision to remove me from those two committees.  It's them that's costing the town money," says Gammie.

Gammie was removed from the council chambers by police this past May over his refusal to stop using a laptop during a confidential closed meeting of council.

He was removed again by police during the following council meeting when he refused to apologize for the incident, claiming he did not break any procedural rules.

Gammie's request to quash the appointments bylaw is scheduled for Owen Sound court in October.