Glebe BIA drops request to boot councillor from its board

The Glebe BIAhas withdrawn its request thatOttawa city council remove the local councillor from its board of directors.

In late June, the BIA said it was prepared to take the unusual step of asking council to kick Capital ward Coun. Shawn Menard from its board, claiming the arrangement was "not working in the best interests of our members."

Menard had disagreed with the BIA on certain issues, telling CBC News he believed the request was due to his efforts to block off street parking on Bank Street to allow for physical distancing duringthe COVID-19 pandemic.

Andrew Peck, the BIA's executive director, said it wasn't specifically the parking issue that drove the request, but rather what he called Menard's"adversarial approach" to dealing with issues.

On Friday, Menard and the BIA issued a joint statement saying they would instead work on patching up their differences.

"There is mutual agreement that the current situation is not ideal, and we must focus on effectively addressing the more pressing demands, including those related to COVID-19 and the work required to help the local economy during a period of recovery," the statement said.

All business improvement area boards must have at least onemember appointed by themunicipality.