A C3 (community-to-community-to-community) meeting between City of Powell River, Tla’amin Nation and qathet Regional District was held out of the scrutiny of the public and media on June 26.
At the June 22 city council meeting, councillor Jim Palm spoke on the issue of C3 meetings being held in a private forum.
“I believe all of us here at the council table ran on platforms of transparency,” said Palm. “Transparency is a very important item and I don’t want anybody being caught off guard when they find out after that fact about the meeting. We all received individual invitations, and all of us are making an individual choice as to whether we attend a meeting in Tla’amin.
“It is unfortunate that we are not meeting in public. We are meeting behind closed doors in a private forum. I believe that forum has an agenda. It gives council a lot of cause for concern. There are a number of legal questions attached. The chief administrative officers have met to discuss the ramifications of this proposed meeting.”
Palm said he wanted to call upon interim chief administrative officer Tom Day to comment as to how the meeting would take place in a legal format and what is proposed during the meeting.
Day said there is an existing document created by the province, the federal government and Union of British Columbia Municipalities, that outlines the various forums for such meetings.
“While the document itself is vague, it clearly envisions the opportunity for some private discussions,” said Day. “It indicates if a decision of council is going to be made, the decision has to be made in council’s legitimate forums. That means a council meeting, or an in camera meeting, in accordance with the statutes.
“It’s common practice that there are various means for holding these meetings. It happens across the province, but what’s important is that council does not make a decision until it is in the venue that council is enabled to make the decision.”
Mayor Ron Woznow thanked Day for the explanation and said any issue that may be discussed at C3 will come to an open council meeting so everyone is aware before a decision is made.
Councillor George Doubt said he had the C3 agenda that had been circulated to city council members. He said the second item on the agenda was a proposed C3 discussion and meeting guidelines.
“I hope we can have a thorough discussion on those meeting guidelines and what happens after the discussion on guidelines will guide what I do on that particular event,” said Doubt. “There are many things on the agenda that are tempting to take a position on, and I think we need to be careful about that.”
Palm said he was apprehensive about the meeting, going as an individual. He said he would like to hear from corporate officer Chris Jackson, who had conducted some research into private meetings.
Jackson said there will be a council quorum at the C3 meeting, but what’s important is whether or not the business of council is being conducted.
“The clarity of that is you are not entering into deliberations or discussions among yourselves,” said Jackson. “You are not furthering the business with each other. That’s where you hit the pause button and say the matter has to come back to the council tables in a public forum, or a legitimate in camera session.”
