More than 300 Springfield residents packed into Cooks Creek Community Centre on Oct. 22 for what was billed as a public forum on Sio Silica’s controversial silica-sand mining proposal and the municipality’s place within the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region (WMR). But while emotions ran high and concerns poured out, Mayor Patrick Therrien says the widely promoted gathering has created confusion.

The event, hosted by councillors Mark Miller and Andy Kuczynski, was not sanctioned by the RM — a fact residents might have only learned after a public statement from the municipality clarified the meeting did not represent “the views, decisions, or official position of council as a whole.”

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In an interview following the town hall, Therrien did not mince words about the fallout.

“I

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