The majority of Saanich council recently voted against a motion to create a lobbyist registry, with Coun. Colin Plant justifying his vote based on that the public had not shown particular interest in the matter.
That’s an interesting take on the situation, as only two weeks previously council had unanimously voted on a motion created by Plant to have Saanich discontinue its paid membership of the UDI development lobby, after numerous members of the public had recently voiced serious discomfort about what they perceived as conflict of interest concerns, which was something cited that night during deliberations as a concern worth withdrawing over.
It’s not too late to have a bit of consistency on the issue, however. Coun Plant is the chair of the CRD, which is also a paying member of the same UDI development lobby. Perhaps he might create another motion, this time for the CRD to withdraw its membership with the organization, just like he did for Saanich?
Consistency, like transparency in a democracy, is indeed important. In fact, I’d like to suggest that it is key.
Sasha Izard
Saanich