Burnaby Now September 19 2018

Page 6

6 WEDNESDAY September 19, 2018 • BurnabyNOW

Opinion now OUR VIEW

Law needed to oust politicians who are convicted

Imagine if a politician on Burnaby city council was convicted of a crime, such as sexually assaulting a teenage girl. Did you know that the rest of council and the public are powerless to force that politician off of council? It’s true. The nearby community of Pitt Meadows found itself in the same position when a man named David Murray, who was a city councillor at the time, was convicted and then sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment for sexually assault-

ing a 14-year-old girl almost two decades ago. He was convicted in 2017 and resigned amid public pressure four days later. But he didn’t have to. “No other community should have to deal with that,” Pitt Meadows Mayor John Becker told delegates at last week’s annual meeting of the Union of B.C. Municipalities. “It can’t just be business as usual.” Current provincial legislation doesn’t have measures in it to force out politicians convicted of criminal acts. In response to the Murray

situation, the UBCM approved a resolution that local council members be put on unpaid leave from office upon conviction for a criminal offence.That leave would continue until the end of the period allowed for appeal of such a conviction or the end of the appeal process. The resolution also came with an amendment – that conviction for acts of civil disobedience should not bar a public official from remaining in public office. That amendment was narrowly passed.

Vancouver Coun. Adriane Carr suggested the civil disobedience change. “They are acts of a good social conscience.” Carr said. “I would not want to see those officials barred from public office.” Civil disobedience often results in contempt of court charges against protesters who disregard court orders. The charge is a criminal one – and one that protesters against the Trans Mountain pipeline have faced after the Supreme Court of British Columbia issued an injunction on demonstrations

at Kinder Morgan’s Burnaby work site. Vancouver mayoral candidate Kennedy Stewart, who is a former Burnaby member of Parliament, pleaded guilty to contempt in May. Federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May also pleaded guilty to criminal contempt in May for her role in a pipeline protest. Smithers Coun. Frank Wray disagreed on removing civil disobedience. “As lawmakers, we set a poor example when we choose which laws we should support and which

we should not support,” Wray said. The amendment does create a hazy situation, but it seems doubtful a contempt conviction for protesting would create the kind of paralyzing situation that the Murray conviction did. We’re happy with the overall resolution. It’s needed – now the provincial government needs to act and change the Community Charter and Local Government Act to protect communities from these types of situations from ever happening again.

INBOX KEITH BALDREY

LNG could scuttle Green-NDP deal

The strength of the relationship between the BC NDP and B.C. Greens is about to be tested on two fronts. While the two parties disagree on issues, there has been little consequence from those disagreements. For example, the Greens have been demanding since Day 1 of their agreement with the NDP that ridesharing be introduced.The NDP is dragging its heels on that, and life goes on for both parties. The Greens want to move quickly to shut down (or relocate) many fish farms, but again the NDP has delayed taking any action until after the next election. And let’s not even get into the NDP’s decision early on to continue construction of the Site C dam. But two looming issues may ultimately strain their relationship, which props up the government. One of them is the speculation tax, and the other is the LNG project in B.C.’s northwest corner. Green party leader AndrewWeaver appears ready to use his opposition to both in different ways. He intends to introduce amendments to the speculation tax when it is unveiled in the upcoming legislative session (that’s assuming the NDP doesn’t back down in response to widespread criticism of the tax). He could, for example, introduce an amendment that gives cities and municipalities the option on being covered by the tax or not. Where things could get interesting is if the BC Liberals like what they see from

Weaver and vote in favour of his amendments.Together, the two parties can beat the NDP government in a vote. Or perhaps the Liberals, many of whom dislike Weaver, will opt not to support anything he does and keep enough of their caucus out of the house to allow the government to defeat them. But even if the amendments fail and the Greens (and the Liberals) combine to defeat the original bill, it will not result in the NDP falling from power, since individual bills (with the exception of the budget) are not considered confidence votes.The LNG issue may be more problematic for the Greens as it runs directly counter to its core philosophy.The final investment decision for the LNG Canada project near Kitimat is expected to be made in October. CanWeaver support a government embracing an industry that he insists will make it impossible for the province to meet its climate emission targets? He threatened on Twitter over Christmas that he would ensure the NDP government would fall should it approve an LNG project. He has softened his tone – now he wants to see the government’s climate action plan before passing final judgment – but not his opposition to LNG. Weaver can have some fun with the speculation tax, but the problems associated with LNG will sorely test his continued backing of the current government. Keith Baldrey is chief political reporter for Global BC.

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Shooter sees red over camera

It didn’t take long for opponents of Burnaby’s first red light camera, installed at Edmonds Street and Canada Way, to register their displeasure. In November, someone sent a bullet through it with a high-powered rifle or handgun. Police were alarmed because the weapon appeared to have been fired in the same direction as some homes. RCMP hadn’t received much feedback on the device, according to Sgt. Bill Shumborski, but he said there had been rumours of a militia group that had vowed to get rid of the cameras wherever they were installed.

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