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LETTER: UBCM has councillors beating their own drum

I asked Sayeed why all council members were going, as that expense would have come close to paying for a referendum on Skaha Park.

All of Penticton’s council is attending UBCM 2016.

A group of us recently met with Councillor Tarik Sayeed to persuade him to raise an objection to the omission of recall on the UBCM agenda. We were unable to get a commitment.

Recall was passed with a UBCM majority in 2015. Staff at UBCM recommended against recall to the province. The province agreed with the staff at UBCM. As a result recall was omitted from the agenda for 2016.

I asked Sayeed why all council members were going, as that expense would have come close to paying for a referendum on Skaha Park. I received no answer. I asked him why he was going. He told me there were a couple of items on the agenda he wanted to vote on. I asked him what they were.

I expected Penticton business; I got plastic bags and the Site C Dam: He wants plastic bags banned and he wants to vote against the Site C Dam.

When I asked him if Penticton taxpayers should be expected to cover his costs for these kinds of issues I received no answer.

I said as he and council managed our electric company did that not have an effect on his decision to vote against Site C. No answer and apparently no understanding of this issue.

We have been lucky in B.C. Abundant, clean electricity has been a cornerstone of British Columbia’s economy and quality of life for generations. The Site C energy project promises to continue that lifestyle for the next 100 years. The green movement has forced many changes: Expensive high tech solutions with relatively small output; rapidly increasing costs of energy with green programs designed drain pocketbooks and mollify the green lobby.

Today, if you live in rural Ontario, there is a good chance you are deciding whether to eat or pay for heat and light. Many people are thousands of dollars behind in their electric bills with a long cold winter ahead.

There is a serious lack of leadership at city hall when councillors attend conferences willy-nilly at taxpayer expense. When I asked Sayeed why he was going down to UBCM he did not mention city business. He mentioned his personal interests. Should taxpayers be expected to foot the bill so councillors can attend conferences to bang their own drum?

Elvena Slump

Penticton