Editor:
The Auditor General for Local Government’s report on the goings-on in the District of Sechelt makes interesting reading. Sadly, its findings cannot have come as a surprise to anyone who was paying attention during 2012/2014.
From within council itself, experienced voices were publicly stating that things were not as they should have been. The preponderance of meetings held in-camera was a clear violation of the Community Charter. It was obvious that much of the public’s business was being conducted behind inappropriately closed doors. Monies, sometimes in large amounts, were obviously being spent with no public discussion and, at times, no record of a tendering process.
Was it mere coincidence that several of the district’s management professionals chose to resign during this period?
Even in such circumstances, it seems there is no process by which a council can be called to account for its actions. Inquiries by residents to provincial authorities may have ultimately led to this audit, but they did not provide any resolution of the issues at the time. Surely there needs to be some means of reining in a rogue council.
The authority of local councils devolves through provincial legislation, so it seems reasonable to expect the provincial government to ensure and demand operational integrity on a routine and ongoing basis. Alternatively, a civic recall process could be established, although that seems likely to be an expensive and cumbersome option, as well as a politically divisive one.
This is a serious issue that has the potential to affect any municipality in the province, and Coun. Alice Lutes took a positive step at last week’s council meeting when she advocated raising it at the UBCM conference.
Val Morris, Sechelt
