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| The eight candidates seeking your vote on October 20th were at the Lester Centre on Monday for the Council candidate forum (Screenshot from CityWest) |
As we head into a long weekend, we thought that perhaps we might offer up some dinner time talking points for your Thanksgiving get-together, holding off on posting our Council Forum review until today and the start of the four days ahead for gatherings of family and friends.
Remember to keep things civil though, no one wants to be the one to ruin Thanksgiving Dinner ... and with that appeal for peace around the Thanksgiving Day table taken care of, our review can be explored below.
The winner on the night at the City Council Forum Monday evening would seem to be the Mayor and his Hays 2.0 blue print, both of which received frequent salutes from many of those looking to join the "team" on City Council.
The loser on the night, the live feed from CityWest, which repeatedly crashed over the course of the two hour City Council Forum, leaving large gaps in the candidates messages, and left a few observers on the CityWest Community Television Facebook page looking for some kind of guidance from the Community channel programmers.
Many of the candidates offered up salutes to the Mayor and his civic blue print, so much so that had the Lester Centre bar been opened for the event, those playing a Hays 2.0 drinking game in the lobby, or viewing at home (when they could), may very well have been in some .08 peril shortly after 8 PM, such was the often heard branding refrain of the Hays 2.0 guiding document that will direct us to our apparent better days ahead.
Of the incumbents, Councillor Randhawa perhaps offered up the most restrained nod to the Mayor's foundation of the last few years, while Councillors Cunningham, Niesh and Mirau were rather more effusive in their views of the path that council has crafted as part of the Hays plan.
For the newcomers, Charmayne Carlson, Sarah Dantzer, Reid Skelton-Morven and Nick Adey, all expressed a desire to join the Council team for the next four years to move the vision plan forward.
Our format of review of the Civic Forum will follow along the lines of our Council Timeline Feature providing a snap shot of the Monday evening event, making note of each of the elements of the near two hour session, along with our direction to the available video presentation available online.
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Gurvinder Randhawa-- Mr. Randhawa recounted his history in the city, his community involvement and his work of the last four years on Council and his hope to take on the challenges of the four years to come. Among some of his themes, First Nations relations, infrastructure concerns, lower taxes and new revenue streams and how to address skills shortages in the community. He observed how the current council membership had made for a good team and how he was glad to see all current members running in the race, as well as the new challengers that have taken up the quest for office.
Charmayne Carlson -- Ms. Carlson reviewed her 21 years in business, 17 of them in ownership of Dolly's Fish Market. She recounted her work in the community with both First Nations and the numerous ethnic groups in the city. She also outlined her involvement with the City's Business Committee, Eco Trust Committee, made note of the great progress made by City Council as part of the Hays 2.0 plan and Quality of Life Community Plan and observed as to how she hopes to be able to help make Prince Rupert great again.
Sarah Dantzer -- Reviewed some of her community efforts in Prince Rupert in the three years since she moved to the city and the traditional Tsimshian territory. She opened her remarks by making note of her community memberships and her work as coordinator of the Rupert Rubbish Roundup, the Overlook Community Garden, memberships with Transition Prince Rupert and the Prince Rupert Port Authority Community information forum to name a few. She noted that she has felt a call to action and offered up to the audience her excitement at the opportunity to represent residents of the city and how she welcomes ideas and plans coming forward from those that are living here.
Barry Cunningham -- The incumbent, outlined his work on council over the last four years and noted how gratifying that it has been to serve on this council, at that point the video presentation suffered its first difficulties of the night, leaving much of the remainder of his opening remarks unheard for those that may have been watching at home.
Wade Niesh -- The CityWest gremlins took out the start of Mr. Niesh's opening address, with the video review returning in time just as he delivered some themes on the development of Watson Island and his thoughts on the city's current relationship with the Port. He also observed as to how the Mayor and existing council team had gained a lot of traction in moving the town forward over the last four years.
Nick Adey -- Mr Adey opened his presentation by expanding his belief that the work of city council is to listen, learn, collaborate and take thoughtful action; serving as a bridge between community members and the various stakeholders in the community in a collaborative fashion. He outlined his five priorities of: economic diversification, affordability, environmental sustainability, quality of life and for continuity in the work done already through such council initiatives as Hays 2.0. Noting for the audience that we don't have to start from scratch, but to start from where we are now.
Reid Skelton-Morven -- Mr. Skelton-Morven, acknowledged that the meeting was taking place on the traditional lands of the nine allied tribes of Lax Kw'alaams and Metlakatla. He provided a short review of his work with the Chamber of Commerce and Toastmasters and as a local business owner. He recounted some of the challenges he and his family had faced during the city's economic downturn. Then, turning to the present, he called our times now a critical period for the community. In service to council, he offered the voters an entrepreneurial view and forward thinking perspectives, adding that he is running for Council in support of positive and inclusive collaboration with the current Mayor and councillors to see through to the Hays 2.0 vision for the community.
Blair Mirau -- Mr. Mirau reflected back on the previous four years and change that the Council team has delivered together in their first term and then turned to why he believes he deserves another four year term. He outlined his family's history in the community, his educational background to this point and his recent work with the Gitmaxmak'ay Society and his work previous to that, as a grant writer for the City of Prince Rupert. His focus for the four years ahead will be to continue to fix the city's finances so the community can invest in the assets that make a place livable. He observed of the tough times and cutbacks of the last twenty years and how Prince Rupert is a resilient place and how now was the time to turn the chapter to see how much the community can grow.
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Questions from the Chamber Members -- Each candidate was allowed to pick two questions, one each from two lists that the Chamber members had prepared for the event, the candidates were allowed to review the questions prior to the event and select the ones that they wished to address.
Of those questions, we have put our focus on the one question that offered the most engagement to the topic at hand, making for a total of eight questions which provide us with a glimpse into some of the key themes of the campaign that the candidates wanted to stress on Monday evening.
You can review the other questions that were posed to candidates on the night, through the video archive link posted at the end of this article.
Mr. Randhawa
How effective is the strategy of the city owning so many assets such as CityWest and Watson Island and what the vision for the Prince Rupert economy is?
Mr. Randhawa noted that local ownership is good when decisions are made locally as money stays in the community and jobs are created in the area. On CityWest, he noted that it is one of the most innovative and best run businesses in northern BC and is growing in value every year, paying a significant dividend on an annual basis. He made note of the sixty local jobs currently in place with the city owned communication company and how that would shrink to ten if the company were sold to another provider.
On Watson Island, he observed that as the sole owner, the city can now seize new opportunities for the site, he noted that it use to cost the city 90,000 dollars per month on maintenance payments and now he says it is ready to earn property taxes again. He outlined that the recent negotiations such as those of the first Tenant of the Pembina terminal would not have been possible through a third party and how he would like to see more tenants on Watson Island soon.
Ms. Carlson
An important facet of Prince Rupert's cultural identity is the high proportion of Indigenous residents. Compared to Canadian averages and proximity to First Nation communities like Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams, how would your leadership on City Council promote reconciliation between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous people?
In response, Ms. Carlson called on her experience with her business in the community which has 25 employees, with the candidate noting that all but three of those in her employ were of Aboriginal heritage. She observed that this community is built around Aboriginal people and recounted her relationships with the Bands around the region and as these are their lands, we need to work with Aboriginal people.
To conclude her comments, she added that she works on many committees and wonders where are her Aboriginal friends, and how they are every part of this community and need to be involved and invited to work on every level to help build the community
Ms. Dantzer
As the Sole Shareholder of CityWest and the recent launch of the Watson Island Inter modal Trade and Logistics Park, our local government manages significant commercial and industrial businesses. How effective is this strategy, explain your vision for Prince Rupert's economy and how it would involve such city owned assets?
Ms. Dantzer opened her remarks by noting that she had only recently been made aware that the City of Prince Rupert owned CityWest, something that she stated was phenomenal. She also observed on the expansion plans that the communication company has outlined, as well as her recent experience from a technology forum and the opportunities that are available that the community will be able to get behind and support.
The job opportunities that owning CityWest offers also made for some of her reply, as well she highlighted the presence of the emergency dispatch service and the jobs they offer at the Fire Hall and how she would like to see local dispatch here for RCMP and ambulance services in the community.
Mr. Cunningham
How would you characterize the city's relationship with the Port of Prince Rupert, recognizing the limitations in place through the Port Tax Cap and what levers would you use to ensure that the Port complies to local standards of environmental sustainability, civic responsibility and participation in economic development.
Mr. Cunningham noted that the relationship has greatly improved under this Mayor and City Council, noting how they had inherited what he called a broken relationship, which he had partially been part of to begin with. He outlined some of the recent arrangements that the city has engaged the Port in, such as the settlement of the PILT agreement. He also noted that the city received over 5 million dollars over the period of 2013-2015 as well as a further one and half million dollars from the Port to be matched by the city for an infrastructure fund.
He noted that the important thing is to communicate issues that are common and as councillors they need to convey the concerns of the community to the Port. To make that point, Mr. Cunningham used the Pellet plant as an example where that communication did not take place in the past. As for the Port Tax caps, he noted that it is strictly a provincial issue, observing as to how the Mayor has engaged with other Port communities to try to resolve the issue for the future.
Mr. Niesh
How important from an economic perspective is the City of Prince Rupert's agreement with the District of Port Edward to share tax proceeds from Industrial tenants from Ridley Island, what would you do to build a more mutually beneficial relationship between the two communities?
Mr. Niesh outlined how the tax agreement made sense back in 1981, back when Port Edward was impacted by the pulp mill and did not receive benefit, he noted that while the mill has been closed for eighteen years, Prince Rupert continues to pay as if it has been open, contributing from the Ridley agreement 25 per cent of the District's budget. Using census numbers to try to deliver his point as to how how he sees the inequity, Mr. Niesh observed that the current arrangement provides for financial benefits of $307 per person for the Prince Rupert's population of just over 12,600 residents, while Port Edward with a population of 467 receives $1,713 per person, which he suggests is one reason the District is not inclined to review the agreement.
He also took note of the irony of the Port Edward slogan of "working together as one" following that observation up by listing the areas where he noted the Port does not share in services, such as the Performing Arts Centre, Police Station, Airport Ferry, Library, Parks and garbage dump to name a few. He observed that there was a temporary agreement for a shared service agreement for a few years, but that now the District doesn't seem to believe that it needs to contribute. He concluded his thoughts by stating that the agreement is outdated and that it is time to solve this, further suggesting that it was time to tear off the bandage and to think about amalgamation instead, something he says would be cheaper for Prince Rupert and would make the communities equal and working as one.
Mr. Adey
What ought to be the city's highest priorities for civic infrastructure repair, replacement and enhancement. What strategies could you champion on City Council to ensure that these priorities are addressed effectively?
Mr. Adey observed that the first priority should be those elements that directly affect People's health, with legal requirements next on his list and all others to follow. He made note the work currently underway related to the city's water supply requirements, and how the expansion of the landfill and rebuilding of the city's waste water infrastructure must follow based on legal requirements. He observed as to the challenges that the waste water rebuild will mean for the city's road infrastructure and the cost and benefits that will come with it.
He highlighted how the city needs to pursue funding assistance from other levels of government so it can pay our share, as well as to take advantage of projects like Watson Island that are going to deliver tax revenues that will mean no need for tax increases for property and business owners to get there. He added that it is a long term project, but that he believes there is a sequence and a vision for how it might be done.
Mr. Skelton-Morven
With the City's success at joining and profiting in partnerships with governments, industrial related groups and other bodies, as a Councillor which such alliances would you seek to establish, reinforce or dissolve for mutual benefit?
Mr. Skelton-Morven called attention to the success he believes the city has had in strategic partnerships and how it has proven to bring results, making note of a number of partnerships that the city has become involved with. He pointed towards such initiatives as the Rushbrook Trail, Cow Bay Marina, repaving and maintenance of McBride, Second Avenue and Park Avenue roads all of which he says were all due to partnerships. Some of the partnerships he would like to maintain are those with the Port, DP World, as well as provincial and federal governments, while he would like to look for new partnerships to fill out the remaining 87 percent of Watson Island.
He also made mention of the Prince Rupert Legacy corporation as a vehicle to generate new revenue for the city, as well as through partnership with the Northwest Resource Benefits Alliance which he said could be a key player in generating greater prosperity. Noting how the fishery has hit an all time low in the region, he observed that the Northwest Resource Benefits Alliance was something which could help to deliver on sustainable solutions for the future, where green energy projects and other projects could be part of the future for the community.
Mr. Mirau
To what extent should transparency of local government be a city council priority. taking into an account the frequency of closed council meetings and cancelled public sessions, as well as the recommendations of the BC ombudsperson on open meetings. What can you do to improve residents engagement with and awareness of civic affairs?
For his reply, Mr. Mirau explored themes dealing for the most part with the latter portions of the question, leaving aside the segment related to the frequency of closed and cancelled sessions. To the goal of transparency he noted that it should definitely be a priority for council, as it looks to improve engagement and awareness of civic affairs. But when it comes to decisions that are made in camera, he made note of what he called the unique circumstance of Watson Island. Observing how the new councillors of the last four years were humbled by how complex that the Watson Island file was and how he believes that any new councillors following the election will be equally as humbled.
He offered up some initiatives that he believes will hopefully open up the civic process, citing the hiring of a communications officer who has created an increased Social media presence for the city, which he said whether we like it or not, is where people communicate these days. He also outlined how the city has produced information videos, hosted open houses, developed an app and a new website, as well as to attempt to create some participatory budget engagement exercises. He also hailed the recent Hays 2.0 presentation by Mayor Brain a few months ago, noting that it was a really good example of how to increase awareness of the city's activities. For the future he would like to see a new in camera communications policy to improve disclosure on decisions made in camera, as well as to improve the way that the Council's Committee of the Whole sessions are used, looking to improve on that element and make it more engaging to the public.
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Questions from the audience: In total thirty six questions were submitted for consideration and voting, but the time restraints of the format meant thirty three of them would be left unexplored, as only the top three vote generating questions provided for the homestretch run of the evening.
The CityWest broadcast gremlins on the night resulted in only a few of the candidates to have their answers delivered to the audience at home before the feed was lost, so to be fair to all eight, we won't review the talking points from those that beat the blackout clock.
For the record the top three voting questions on the night were:
What are your views on marijuana dispensaries in Prince Rupert?
Would you be publicly supportive if the prospect of LNG were to return to Prince Rupert. If no, are you supportive of the current (proposed) propane export facilities? And why?
What is your plan for public waterfront/ocean beach access for our city?
The full list is available here, as the campaign moves forward, the candidates do have the option of addressing any of the thirty six that they wish through the range of communication options that they are making use of in engagement with the voters.
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Some of the Closing points from the Candidates also did not make it onto the broadcast from the Lester Centre, the comments of those of the eight that did get aired, explored many of the themes that they delivered during the course of the two hours on the night and featured one more call for support on election day on October 20th.
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| As part of Monday night's candidate forum, Mayor Lee Brain delivered a short update on a number of themes for the audience (CityWest screenshot) |
Mayor Brain's Address at the end of the Forum
Mayor Lee Brain, who delivered the original draft for the Hays 2.0 plan to Prince Rupert in November of 2015, came to the stage with the zeal of an evangelist, (though he was limited by organizers to but six minutes of speaking time) as he launched into what is becoming his political stump speech of late.
Monday night he identified the sinners (looking at you Port Edward, Provincial Government and your Port caps and such) as well as to offer up for the audience his path of salvation ahead for the community.
Opening with some words of congratulations and support for the candidates that are standing for office this year, the Mayor's presentation was a significantly pared down replay of the April Hays 2.0 show on the very same stage. A rapid fire listing of the many challenges facing the community, with Mr. Brain highlighting the Port Property Cap Tax issue and how the City, working with other communities with port facilities is looking to get the province to address the issue, otherwise the Mayor noted that "this community will be operating at a loss for the rest of our days"
He reviewed the City's concerns related to the Ridley Island Tax Agreement with Port Edward, as well as the lack of a shared service agreement with the District. Picking up on Councillor Niesh's theme of how 1981 is over, the Mayor added some new fire to the city's position as he stated that there is a need for a fairer arrangement and that "Port Edward is getting a free ride off this community, I hate to say it like that but it's true, we need to renegotiate that, it's something that were working on" ...
He also provided an overview of the work of the Northwest Resource Benefits Alliance and how he is going down to Victoria with the group for more negotiations with the province in October where they will try to get a deal.
Mr. Brain noted that if the city can solve those three issues that it would fix a lot of problems.
On Watson Island he observed that the city had been forced into solving that situation in a different way, noting how the City Council had decided to hold onto the property rather than sell it. He outlined that the lease payments from Pembina will bring 75 million dollars over the life of the project, along with other proponents to be lined up, though he did not offer up any hint as to when those announcements would be made.
He offered up the prospect of the city generating over 10 million dollars a year from Watson Island in the long term through lease and tax revenues, something he observed would offer the city the chance to eventually lower taxes for residential and commercial taxpayers.
He also made note of the progress of AltaGas and how they would be paying new tax revenue and he looked ahead to partnerships with other community groups.
The desire to increase the civic operating budget to 50 million dollars a year from its current level of 35 million was reviewed as well, with the Mayor then listing off the wide range of elements that the city needs to address in the years to come, such as the RCMP building, waste water infrastructure and other major projects that the city requires.
His main theme to end the presentation was that without solving the financial issues that the city faces, they can't move very far on the many services and amenities that residents would like to see like downtown development, waterfront development and his Sustainable City plans for the future.
The whirlwind of talking points and fast paced finish, along with the exit stage right, brought out some hearty applause and cheers from a number of members of the audience, though one wonders if they knew exactly what it was that they were in rapture of.
The three available segments of the Civic Forum can be reviewed below
Council Forum Part One (available through YouTube)
Council Forum Part Two (available through YouTube)
Council Forum closing thoughts and Mayor's address (available through Facebook)
CityWest Community Television has plans to replay their broadcast on Sunday evening on Channels 10 and 310, should they be able to retrieve the missing segments from the forum, perhaps they'll add them to the You Tube archive as well, to help complete the overall viewing of the nights production.
For more items of note related to the 2018 Municipal campaign see our archive page here.
To return to our most recent blog posting of the day, click here.
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