Emotions flared in council chambers Monday night during a discussion about a city committee.
Coun. Paul Minhas put forward a motion that Coun. Daniel Fontaine be appointed as the new chair for the city’s arts, culture and economic development committee – a role currently held by Coun. Ruby Campbell.
At Monday night’s meeting, Minhas said council has the “perfect opportunity” to appoint the only Indigenous person on council to that role.
“He has a lot of experience, a lot of knowledge about a lot of these topics,” Minhas said. “And, on a totally different note, I think he's got too much time on his hands; he's barely on any committees, and I think he would be a wonderful addition.”
Fontaine thanked Minhas for his confidence and his commitment to Indigenous representation. He said he’d be honoured to serve as the committee’s chair.
As part of its 2024 committee appointments, Campbell had previously been named as the committee’s chair and Minhas as a council representative on the committee.
Coun. Nadine Nakagawa said council doesn’t normally read out all the “whereas clauses” included in preamble to motions, but she felt it was important that the whereases in Minhas’s motion be read out. They stated:
- Whereas it is important for the chair of the arts culture and economic development advisory committee to openly and regularly support the growth of for-profit enterprises in New Westminster
- Whereas the chair of ACEDAC should treat both for-profit and non-profit entities equitably when it comes to our development of new policies and strategies
- Whereas it is important for inclusiveness and the proper functioning of council business that appointments to our various committees be done on an equitable basis ensuring that all members of council are provided with an equal opportunity to serve the community.
“I don't agree with those whereas clauses,” Nakagawa said. “I actually have alternatives that I'm looking for in the chair of ACEDAC, and those would be these: whereas it is important that the chair of ACEDAC should be working to bring people together, rather than engaging in divisive and misleading attacks; whereas the chair of ACEDAC should actually represent both the city’s and community’s best interests; whereas it is important for inclusiveness and the proper function of council business that council members appointed to city committees actually attend those committee meetings. Therefore, be resolved that I don't support this motion.”
Campbell said “there’s lots of good work happening” with the committee, which is comprised of members who have been really engaged and have provided valuable feedback to the staff on a wide range of services. She said she was “taken aback” because the councillor who brought the motion forward serves on the committee but has not attended any meetings this year.
“Quite frankly, I'm surprised by this motion,” she said. “It really feels like a personal attack.”
Fontaine expressed concern about Campbell’s comments regarding Minhas’s attendance at committee meetings.
“I would caution council around commenting around who is and who is not at what committee meetings. If we're going to get into the business of commenting about who is and who's not, and who is attending more meetings or not, it's going to go down a very dark path,” he said. “I think we should be careful around that.”
Fontaine said Campbell’s comments about Minhas’s attendance at committee meetings had “nothing to do with the motion” but they were not ruled out of order by the chair.
“Coun. Campbell is calling into question and making commentary about the attendance of a member of council that has nothing to do with this motion,” Fontaine said. “The motion is to appoint me.”
Johnstone said no one called a point of order and he did not hear anything that he deemed out of order. (A point of order can be called when someone breaches the meeting’s rules)
“I'm going to suggest that if a member of a committee is asking to have another member of that committee replaced, while that member has not attended any of the committee meetings, I think that's germane,” he said. “I actually don't think that's an attack; I think that is germane to the conversation. We have one person who has attended a committee meeting and another person who has not; I think that is germane to this conversation. I agree it's not a kind thing, but it is germane.”
Fontaine countered that what’s germane to the conversation is he'd love to be attending more committee meetings. He said he’s only been appointed to a committee that “barely meets.”
Fontaine and Minhas, the two New Westminster Progressive councillors, supported the motion to name Fontaine as chair of the committee, while Campbell, Johnstone, Nakagawa and Coun. Tasha Henderson voted in opposition.
In December, council approved its 2024 appointments of chairs and representatives to the city’s internal advisory boards and to external organizations. At that time, Fontaine was named as a member of the city’s community heritage commission, but he was not named as a chair of any committees. (He’s serving as interim chair while Coun. Jaimie McEvoy is on a leave of absence.)
“There are certain members of council that are getting a lot more appointments to committees than myself,” he said. “And what Coun. Minhas’s motion was to try to rebalance that. Full stop. It's not a personal attack against anyone. … I don't know why people get so opposed to having me appointed to a single committee.”
