City of Powell River councillors received correspondence imploring them to include conflict of interest in the code of conduct that the city is developing.
At the March 5 committee of the whole meeting, councillor Rob Southcott took issue with a comment in the email from Louise Scott that stated: “The other side of the name change question is going rampant and we do not get our say with five council members working for Tla’amin Nation and not for the City of Powell River, whom they were elected to represent fairly in all matter.”
Southcott moved that the committee receive the correspondence and added that he couldn’t let the matter go by without commenting on Scott’s statement.
“The implication, at the very least, for me, personally, is that it is untrue, and I find it insulting, actually, because it really diminishes the whole reason I ever intended to sit here at this table,” said Southcott. “I think I can speak for every single person at this table that the deepest passion for us is to serve this community. It’s very clear that we come at it from all sorts of different angles, and that is a benefit, because there are many different angles to be represented here.
“To say we are working for the nation and not the city is categorically untrue, and I do feel it is insulting, but feeling insulted is my problem.”
Southcott said he wanted to reiterate one thing, that he also feels this encourages divisiveness, which is the deepest enemy.
“We need to find our way to connect with each other again,” said Southcott. “That is so important.”
Councillor and committee chair Jim Palm said he is deeply disturbed and conflicted with where things are in this community.
“It’s not a good place where we are at presently,” said Palm. “We will keep working through the process and we’ll see where we end up down the road. In the meantime, it is just very sad to see all the kerfuffle dividing our residents so greatly.”
The rest of Scott’s correspondence addressed conflict of interest and the need for having a conflict of interest policy included in the code of conduct.
“It is essential for council members to act with integrity and transparency in all their decision-making processes,” stated Scott, "and a conflict of interest policy serves as a safeguard to ensure that council members are acting in the best interest of the community.”
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