Monday Oct. 29 12 – Councillor Havixbeck explains the “raising chickens” ruckus at City Hall

Summary: This morning at the Protection Committee, a gallery full of administrators and fire-paramedics were eagerly waiting to hear the FireHallGate (Station #11) Q & A between the councillors and various honcho-bureaucrats trying to pass off a $2.3M cost overrun as business-as-usual. Instead, they got to spend their morning hearing all about chickens. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Ex-councillor-tossed-for-bringing-live-chicken-176273831.html The sustainability and urban living crowd showed up by the dozens to argue their case for allowing chickens to be raised as pets or...whatever, taking a rather casual approach to the notion of formalities when addressing city councillors.  The apex was reached when former council candidate Louise May produced a live chicken from her bag to hold while speaking. This resulted in chair Paula Havixbeck ordering her removal by escort, as technically it is highly illegal to bring the bird into the city limits, let alone 510 Main Street. Listen to the audio of Havixbeck's scrum with reporters explaining the vote and her reaction to the intrusion of live poultry into the Chambers. (The matter about Station 11 was postponed for this afternoon.)