City of Powell River council has established a select committee on sustainability, but two of the elected officials appointed to it voted against it.
Councillors Russell Brewer and Myrna Leishman voted in opposition to the resolution at the June 20 meeting. It established the sustainability steering committee, appointed them and Councillor Chris McNaughton to it and appointed McNaughton as chair.
Brewer said he thought Leishman should chair the committee. “I appreciate that Councillor McNaughton has lots of time and would like to chair, but he will be the chair of the budget committee,” Brewer said. “I think it would be appropriate to have Councillor Leishman chair that committee for us.”
There was no other discussion and the rest of council voted in favour of the motion.
Council was then supposed to approve the terms of reference for the committee, but Marie Claxton, city clerk, pointed out the draft document had to be amended because it stated committee members would appoint the chair. A majority of council voted to remove the words “The committee will appoint a chair,” with Brewer and Leishman once again voting in opposition to the motion.
“My hope for having a sustainability committee was to facilitate some real action on sustainability initiatives,” Brewer said. “I didn’t intend for it to be for political purposes.”
Since the terms of reference were being amended, Brewer said he wanted to add a reference to the Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP) and the Carbon Neutral Action Plan (CNAP), which council has endorsed. Council agreed and passed another motion to amend the draft document, which passed unanimously.
When it came to adopting the amended terms of reference, however, once again Brewer and Leishman voted in opposition to the motion.
The terms of reference state the committee “shall advance community sustainability by facilitating a community sustainability conference in Powell River by June 30, 2014. The conference will provide an opportunity to bridge community needs and actions with municipal initiatives.”
The committee will present a community sustainability conference plan for council’s consideration during the fall 2013 budget deliberations. “Advancing the conference is conditional upon council’s approval of the conference plan and funding,” the document also states.
