Boat Ramps and Campgrounds items of note for Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain

Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain has outlined a few more areas where he would seemingly like to see the City take action towards anyone from outside arriving in the North Coast region.

Speaking this time towards themes of recreation and tourism in this era of COVID-19.

As  part of the Mayor's ongoing Social media messaging, the Mayor is once again looking to see if the City can make use of any authority that they may have under existing Provincial or Federal orders.

That to address what he understands to be and describes as a growing concern towards the prospect of any out of town visitors arriving in the city.

And as has been the case in recent weeks, once the Mayor introduces a theme, many of those who follow his Facebook feed weigh in with their own commentaries. 

Some which may have some veracity, others perhaps not. 

In this case, some have reacted to a perceived threat to public health and safety, by calling for the closure of all the Boat ramps in the region.

In response, Mr. Brain notes how the City "don't want to close the Boat Launch as there are First Nations and local residents who depend on it for food fishing." 

Adding that, "legally we can't prejudice against a certain demographic from using it unless we have emergency measures available to use for temporary measures"

Some followers of the Mayor's Social Media stream have called 
for the closure of all boat ramps in the Northwest 
to deter any potential out of town visitors

The Mayor responded to those comments, with a review some more of the extensive measures that the city had wished to put in place in the community under their State of Emergency plan of last week. 

From Council's vote of approval of last Monday, a pair of measures had been implemented prior to the suspension of the Local State of Emergency by the Province last Thursday.

In his update today, the Mayor did not outline if the City actually had any authority to install the proposed measures in the first place; or if so, how they might have enforced the provisions that they had in mind.

The Mayor's ongoing pursuit of potential civic policy through Facebook would appear to be one that will continue on without benefit of the participation of the elected members of City Council. 

Earlier this week, the City announced the Cancellation of the upcoming Monday public City Council session, citing a lack of business to discuss as the reason to take a pass on the scheduled session. 

A decision that has removed the one aspect of civic governance where the Council members have a chance to ask questions and offer a more detailed explanation as to their plans. 

And while they suggest that there is a lack of business to deal with at the moment, which is a puzzling statement to begin with considering our times.  

It would seem that to ruminate on such themes as above, might actually be something that the six Council members should discuss in a public forum. 

Offering as it does the chance to share their views towards the measures with the entire community and on the record, rather than to make them daily talking points for social media discussion for a select group of followers.

For more notes on the work of the Mayor and council see our archive page here.