While provincial legislation specifies that the term of a mayor and council ends immediately prior to the first meeting of the new council, voters should reasonably expect that those seeking reelection should not take unfair advantage of their incumbency during the election campaign.
The business of the city continues under the watchful eye of professional civil servants and managers, while ceremonial duties and speeches by the mayor and councilors are kept to a minimum less they afford an unfair advantage over those seeking office.
The Citizen of the Year awards dinner on Saturday night for example prohibited candidates and their supporters from wearing campaign buttons, and while Mayor Rogers was recognized, he did not deliver a speech.
Disconcerting then when on Tuesday a number of business people and prominent individuals in the city received an invitation from Initiatives Prince George President Tim McEwen, inviting them to a luncheon featuring United States Consul General Anne Callaghan...His worship Mayor Dan Rogers, and myself" and also indicating that all three would be speaking.
The luncheon scheduled for Tuesday October 25th, is less than a month before the November 19th municipal election that will determine whether Mayor Rogers gets to keep his job.
As the head of the economic development arm of the city, Initiatives Prince George, (a body which is nearly totally dependent upon the city for its funding), one would have expected that Mr. McEwen would have been more sensitive to the optics of hosting such a high profile event showcasing the Mayor, so close to voting day.
Equally disturbing, is the appearance of a US diplomat sharing the stage with an incumbent politician in the middle of what is acknowledged to be a close race for mayor.
While the appearance of Consul General Callaghan would normally be a welcome event in Prince George, the timing could not have been worse so close to voting day.
Having the mayor deliver a speech on the same podium as a prominent US dignitary not only affords Mayor Rogers an unfair advantage over the other five candidates vying for his job, but it also raises the specter of US interference in our municipal election process, (albeit one presumes innocently).
In the interest of fair play and a transparent electoral process, we would urge Mayor Rogers to recuse himself from speaking at the luncheon, or failing that, Consul General Callaghan should do the diplomatic thing and reschedule her appearance until after the November 19th election.
