20. If the chairman is absent or unable to act or if the office of chairman is vacant and the person who last held that office does not continue to act as chairman until his re-election or the election of his successor, the members present at a meeting of the Council shall designate one of their number to preside over the meeting and to temporarily hold the office of chairman.
The Council may, at any time, designate one of its members in advance as a temporary replacement for the chairman in the circumstances mentioned in the first paragraph. The Council may give that person the title of vice-chairman.
If the replacement referred to in the second paragraph is absent or unable to act at a time when he should be replacing the chairman, the chairman shall be replaced by a member of the Council designated in accordance with the first paragraph for as long as both the chairman and the replacement are absent or unable to act, or the office of chairman is vacant.
The replacement of the chairman remains a representative of the municipality on whose council he is a member and retains the number of votes granted to him in such capacity by section 33.
1975, c. 90, s. 6; 1983, c. 29, s. 2; 1990, c. 85, s. 10.