At the May 12 Saanich council meeting, Coun Nathalie Chambers put forth the following motion: “That in the interest of transparency that all meetings between the District of Saanich staff and/or elected officials with development groups and other stakeholders be listed on the district’s website, including dates, times of meetings and posted in advance of them, similarly to how council meetings are posted.”
Coun. Chambers’ motion did not receive a seconder from the mayor or any of the other councillors.
Why didn't one of the elected officials other than Coun. Chambers even allow for a discussion of the possibility of this motion being implemented? The motion provided for the most basic levels of transparency and accountability regarding the district’s staff and elected officials meeting with groups of outside interests to discuss the district’s operations and the district’s future.
Why in a supposed democracy (rule by the public), are the public not even provided the opportunity to see a public posting of the calendar dates for such meetings? Why, in contrast, are public input opportunities publicly posted for all to see, yet meetings between the district and special-interest groups are not? This is a public institution. Such meetings are paid with taxpayer dollars. Doesn’t the public deserve the right to have at the very least the dates, times, groups, and locations of such meetings publicly posted for all to see?
In a democracy, the No. 1 stakeholder is the public. Instead, we are seeing a double standard where the public has been pushed to the side and marginalized. The public has had vast amounts of public input opportunities – public hearings, curtailed by both the district and the province over the last several years. Heavy lobbying for such policies, has been documented as having arisen from the development industry, yet in contrast, the industry and other stakeholder groups are granted a remarkable double standard; whereby they not only have been granted the privilege to meet in groups behind closed doors with the district, but the district doesn’t even publicly post the calendar dates for such meetings.
Sasha Izard
Saanich
