The Union of B.C. Municipalities has endorsed a pair of resolutions sponsored by the City of Prince George calling for stronger penalties for councillors who breach their duty to respect confidentiality.
Under the resolutions, the Union of B.C. Municipalities is calling on the provincial government to give city councils the authority to disqualify a councillor from office for breaching confidentiality and to work the organization on developing stronger accountability measures. Local elected officials from municipalities across B.C. voted on the motions Wednesday and Thursday at the annual convention in Vancouver.
"I was the only one who got up to speak to these resolutions," Prince George councillor Brian Skakun said. "They were put into a block of 115 resolutions to vote on at once. They were almost redundant because the UBCM passed similar resolutions in 2007."
Skakun, who was convicted in May 24 of breaching the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, said he spoke against the motions. In July city council voted to hold a censure hearing against Skakun - however it was postponed until the B.C. Supreme Court rules on an injunction filed by Skakun.
Currently under the Community Charter, a councillor cannot be disqualified from office for breaching the duty of maintaining confidentiality.
"I fully support the intention of some of these resolutions," Skakun said. "[But] if we're going to restrict what officials do and say... we have to make sure that elected officials have some protections."
Skakun said he's had discussions with other local elected officials and NDP citizen's services and open government critic Doug Routley on the issue of government transparency.
"I've had conversations with dozens of elected officials who have come to me and said they have concerns about what happens in their closed meetings," Skakun said. "The resolutions from the City of Prince George captivated some attention."
Two additional resolutions proposed by the City of Prince George were defeated on the convention floor. The motions called for the authority to disqualify a councillor from office for breaching their oath of office and increase the fines under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
"The two that were dealt with first were adopted by the membership," Mayor Dan Rogers said. "Those were the significant ones, in my mind. The other two were the weaker ones we put forward."
Rogers said the goal of the resolutions was to take the lessons learned in Prince George as a result of Skakun's case and improve accountability in local government.
"This is a about trying to be accountable. And trying to find ways to improve the Community Charter," he said.
It's time for Prince George to put the Skakun issue behind it and move on to other priorities, he added.
"This has been a distraction, in my mind."
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