Dan Ashton met with Minister Fastbender at my request to find out why recall was not on the agenda at Union of B.C. Municipalities 2016 conference.
After recall passed in 2015, with a small majority, it was forwarded to the province with a recommendation by UBCM staff against the issue of recall. The government looked at the issue and returned it to UBCM supporting the UBCM staff position recommending against recall. The only remedy left is the attendees at the 2016 UBCM bringing up this issue from the floor and asking for a vote on it. Apparently the province has been getting lots of feedback on this issue. There is growing dissatisfaction over the new four year terms and no recall remedy is in place to deal with unsatisfactory councils and/or mayors.
So the province is waiting to see if one of the participating members, whether regional districts or municipalities, makes a motion from the floor to have a vote on this issue. There is apparently a case to be made for this as it passed at last year’s UBCM.
If you want recall I suggest you contact the councillor; mayor or regional director for your area and ask him/her to bring this issue up on the floor and ask that a vote be held on recall.
While we don’t know yet which Penticton members of council will be attending UBCM on our behalf, I suggest that you contact all the council members and the mayor and request that they bring this issue up for vote at the UBCM. Any councillor that did bring this up and vote in favor of recall would likely ensure their re-election. Failing this, we can only hope to make this an election issue in the coming provincial election.
I have found Dan Ashton to be very helpful the past year. He has worked hard and diligently on recall on our behalf. Dan Ashton is in favor of recall for all elected officials. He arranged an introduction to the Premier and the Cabinet Minister in charge of local governments. I did not find Minister Fastbender receptive at the time, however, wide general dissatisfaction could force change.
If you want recall you need to phone; email or speak to your local elected officials to ensure this becomes an issue at UBCM 2016.
Elvena Slump
Penticton