Closed doors on Trust, could result in lack of trust

Those ever popular "in camera" meetings that City Hall likes to hold are beginning to come back to bite them a bit. The latest bit of controversy into the handling of affairs at City Hall involves the Northern Trust, which is a fund that is to provide $20 million for the Northwest, including a $2 million dollar contribution that is ear marked for the Prince Rupert area.

The Trust is holding Project Success Workshops across the region, in order to give people the information they need to apply for trust funding. They published a list of upcoming events and held public workshops in Terrace on Monday and the Charlottes on Tuesday.

Missing from that list of public gaterings was one for Prince Rupert. Instead the city’s elected officials decided to listen to the message in a private in camera session, a situation that has a few alarm bells ringing around town.

The area’s MLA Gary Coons, is at the front of the line in expressing concern over the lack of public consultation regarding the Rupert presentation, he said the process should have been an open forum with anyone who wished to learn more about the Fund allowed to attend.

That’s a pretty radical concept; allow the public to provide input for a Fund that is using public money after all. Next thing you know we may be asking for accountability of our elected crew at City Hall. God knows where that could lead to!

The Daily News had the controversial aspects of the situation on its front page on Wednesday. MLA Coons is quoted in the article as saying that Prince Rupert may ask for the public workshop to be held at a later date. (Oh, let’s say when the hue and cry reaches a more fevered pitch).

It wasn’t that long ago in an election campaign that those city council candidates ran on the promise of a more transparent way of governing and cutting down on the number of secretive in camera sessions. Memories seem to get shorter on the Third Avenue, the farther along we get from that Election Day.

Now it seems that a funny thing is happening across the city, the more that things are kept in the dark, the more people are looking to shine some light.


CALLS MADE FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS ON $2M FUND
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Pages One and Five

While communities from Quesnel to the Queen Charlotte Islands are holding public meetings on how to access the millions of dollars in the Northern Development Income Trust, Prince Rupert city council held a private meeting on Monday only open to invited guests.

“I’m uncomfortable with no public forum about the trust. I’ve had calls from constituents about where Rupert is on the posted schedule,” said North Coast MLA Gary Coons. “The NDI workshop should be an open process with anyone who wants to learn about it being able to attend.”

The Northern Trust is delivering Project Success Workshops across the region, including one in Terrace on Monday and one the Charlottes on Tuesday, in order to give people the information they need to apply for trust funding.

Prince Rupert city council held the private meeting on Monday afternoon during the time they normally hold their in-camera council meeting.

The trust was set up with assets from the sale of B. C. Rail and includes $20 million for the Northwest region, including about $2 million that will go to Prince Rupert, for economic development and a northern fund aimed at supporting economic development projects that benefit the whole northern area.

The workshops, which take about two hours, are aimed at giving representatives from the community, business and First Nations groups the necessary tools to complete successful project applications.

“There are some in our community that may want to access and will be denied. There shouldn’t be an ‘invited’ list and a later one for others,” said Coons, who was told the city, may ask for the workshop to be held at a later date for the public.

“People have questions, they have concerns and September 11 should have been the day for the community to listen and ask their specific questions.”

However, Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said the funding is being provided to local governments to enhance northern economic development and the city has yet to decide what strategy it will take.

Therefore, the public need not know how to apply for funding because the city isn’t ready to call for proposals at this point in time.

“This money is controlled by city council, it’s right in the nature of the (NDI act),” he said.

“It’s money distributed for the purpose of communities through local government to determine how that money can be best used in their areas to move the local economy forward. It is not designed to make everybody happy or to move any one interest groups’ interest forward.”

“It is very much given to the elected body, because the belief is, rightly or wrongly, that they are in the best position to determine what will best move the community forward from an economic development point.

Mayors represent their communities on the regional advisory council set up to handle the $20 million regional fund.

Pond said that in the Prince Rupert and Port Edward areas they wanted to have a workshop with NDI to get information on what could be done.

“There will be some recommendations coming back from staff. Council will be having some public discussions over the approach that we are going to be taking, but we wanted background on NDI first and what the options were.”

However, Coons said people may have other questions about the funding, particularly statements from provincial ministers saying the NDI funding was intended to compensate for the city agreeing to sign the North Coast Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP).

The plan sets aside on-third of the area as protected from most economic development activities.

“Ministers in the legislature continually refer to the accessibility of the NDI in there reneging of funding for communities in the North Coast LRMP,” said Coons.

“We need public accountability of all public funds, whether it’s for health care, education or for communities.”

Pond added that the LRMP and NDO have nothing to do with each other.

“This fund was created long before the LRMP process was resolved,” said Pond

“What we have heard Ministers says is ‘oh you don’t need this other money because you’ve got NDI, but we see that is completely unrelated.

“We negotiated at the LRMP table for the impacts of the LRMP very specifically and quite distinctly money was put into a fund to help all communities with the development of their economies.”

However, when the LRMP funds were announced last year, it was only for First Nations communities and the province has yet to announce any other funding.