Sharma returns as council Speaker amid shuffle

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This article was published 01/11/2016 (3013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Coun. Devi Sharma will return as council Speaker after she went unchallenged for the post at a recent private meeting of councillors.

Sharma’s election as Speaker will be made official Wednesday, at the organizational meeting of council.

Wednesday’s special meeting formalizes the horse-trading councillors conducted last week, when they met privately to fill out the committees of council.

The private meeting, which took place Friday, is an annual event, which follows the mayor’s shuffle of members of executive policy committee and chairs of the standing committees.

Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) is returning as Deputy Speaker but only after she was challenged for the post by Coun. Janice Lukes, who Mayor Brian Bowman removed from EPC and her role as chairwoman of public works on Thursday.

Lukes’ challenge necessitated a vote among councillors, which was won by Gerbasi.

Traditionally, the organizational meeting of council is brief, lasting only a few minutes, where council publicly rubber-stamps the composition of council committee and those of councillors appointed to 47 boards and commissions.

Sharma (Old Kildonan) became the first woman to hold the position of council Speaker in 2013 and she’s been re-elected to the post by her council colleagues.

Gerbasi has held the post of deputy Speaker since 2014.

Sharma is the seventh councillor to hold the position of Speaker, which was established in 1987 with amendments to the City of Winnipeg Act. The first Speaker was former Coun. Jae Eadie, who was appointed to the post in 1989. Before that, mayors chaired council meetings.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca