Tla’amin Nation has expectation that C3 gatherings are not be open to the public
Community to community to community (C3) meetings in future could have the public and media excluded if a request from Tla’amin Nation is followed.
At the City of Powell River Council meeting on January 19, interim chief administrative officer Chris Jackson said the C3 is an opportunity that has existed since the community accord with Tla’amin was introduced.
“The idea is that several times a year, Tla’amin Nation, City of Powell River and qathet Regional District would meet and talk about shared interests and any kind of business matters that may be shared,” said Jackson. “It is something that is hosted by the three different groups. The next one is to be hosted by Tla’amin.
“Tla’amin made it clear that the expectation is that the C3 meetings would be informal, they would be candid, and that there would be no public and no media in attendance.”
Jackson said this creates a real challenge for the city and regional district because both governments have obligations under the Community Charter to follow open meeting rules.
“In other words, a quorum comes together, you’re talking about business matters, you don’t have to be voting, you just have to be furthering the business, and when you’re in those environments, you have the ability to close a portion, but largely, it’s an open meeting,” said Jackson.
He asked if council wanted to have a report back, where he could provide more details regarding the open meeting rules and explore the conversation with Tla’amin a bit more. He said he needed direction from council.
Unique model
Councillor George Doubt said the C3 model is relatively unique, and there are few communities where there is the kind of relationship that brings together a treaty First Nation that is self-governed, in the same territory as a regional district, and is a neighbour to a city.
“The forefathers of this council had the foresight and the ability to negotiate a group that could get together and talk informally about things that would affect the three groups,” said Doubt. “With the transition of Tla’amin to a self-governed nation, that relationship has become more complex.”
“It has worked so far having meetings that were open to everybody, but no decisions were actually being made at those meetings. Those were always open and were reported on to the public and the public had the ability to look at that and to see what’s going on. I like that model.”
Doubt suggested the three bodies set up a framework of policies and procedures for the C3 so decisions can be made in a collaborative way. He said he comes back to the notion that there needs to be as much transparency as possible and to hopefully create more unity in the community.
A response to a Peak enquiry from Tla’amin’s executive council indicated that intergovernmental relations between various levels of government are rarely carried out in a public forum.
“Tla’amin Nation is not a municipality and is not subject to municipal bylaws or conventions,” the response stated. “Government-to-government relations require difficult, open and often exploratory conversations. Context and safety are important for these discussions.
“Reconciliation requires the space for both parties to talk openly, be vulnerable and move forward. The request to move these conversations into a more private setting stems from our genuine commitment to deepen the relationship with our council colleagues in a safe space.”
At the city council meeting, councillor Cindy Elliott said the interests of Tla’amin need to be addressed seriously. There are provisions for doing negotiations between governments with meetings that are not necessarily open to the public, she added.
“I would be in favour of a report outlining the interests of Tla’amin Nation and what it is they are trying to achieve,” said Elliott. “Can we look at the options and have a report that we can use to try to make choices and decisions? I also recommend we have legal opinions on those options to make sure the ones that come forward are in fact legal.”
Councillor Jim Palm said C3 meetings have been very productive, friendly and cohesive, and that items have been put on the agenda which affect the entire region.
“We have accomplished a lot, working with our Tla’amin neighbours, and it has been very productive over that period of time,” said Palm. “I am not in favour of working against our Community Charter. We all ran on open, transparent government and that’s what we want to do. We want the public involved and we want them to be able to hear the discussion, especially when it affects the entire region.”
Motion carries
Doubt made a motion to direct staff to bring back a report on changes that could be made to the C3 forum to enhance procedures, to ensure the procedures are legal for the city and regional district to participate in, to allow the possibility for closed meetings as a part of the C3 meeting, and to look at possible procedures should any funding be provided to the C3.
Elliott said she wanted to amend the motion to exclude the financial aspects.
Deputy corporate officer Jessica Lefort was asked to read the amended motion. She said it stated: that staff be directed to report to council on changes that could be made to the C3 forum to enhance procedures, ensuring they are legal, and to allow the possibility of closed meetings.
The amended motion carried.
