It’s unknown why Vernon council met with Community Services Minister Ida Chong Thursday. Chong met with council behind closed doors for two hours before going on a helicopter tour of the area with Mayor Wayne 
Lippert. In-camera legislation prevents the details of the session from being disclosed. “There was a specific reason for the meeting,” said Coun. Juliette Cunningham. Coun. Barry Beardsell also defended the meeting being held in private. “There were some documents I referred to that were legal,” he said. Chong was also unwilling to get into specifics, but she pointed out that discussions with municipalities generally include the need for funding for infrastructure projects.
Lippert. In-camera legislation prevents the details of the session from being disclosed. “There was a specific reason for the meeting,” said Coun. Juliette Cunningham. Coun. Barry Beardsell also defended the meeting being held in private. “There were some documents I referred to that were legal,” he said. Chong was also unwilling to get into specifics, but she pointed out that discussions with municipalities generally include the need for funding for infrastructure projects. “There was a whole range of issues,” she said. Cunningham, though, indicates there was no discussion about infrastructure grants. Chong says there was no specific reason behind the flight except to get a bird’s eye view of Vernon. “The Okanagan is a fast-growing area and it’s important to see it,” she said. Chong also met with the North Okanagan Regional District Thursday.
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For a council that promised open and transparent government, the optics at city hall didn’t look good Thursday. Behind closed doors, Mayor Wayne Lippert and council spent two hours meeting with Community Services Minister Ida Chong and Okanagan Vernon MLA Tom Christensen. It’s not often that a high-level cabinet minister comes to town, so the session may have proven interesting to residents. In fact, one resident and a member of the media did show up, but they were promptly shown the door. City officials claim the meeting had to be held in-camera because of some legal issues, but it would be interesting to know if the entire session related to those legal issues or if some of the talks should have been held in the public domain. It may be inconvenient to bounce between open and public discussions but making things easier for politicians shouldn’t come at the expense of citizens’ rights. It’s also interesting how Chong suggested infrastructure grants were discussed, but Coun. Juliette Cunningham says that wasn’t the case. Which is it? And if infrastructure funding wasn’t discussed, why not? At a time when residents are being hit by sky-high water rates, any chance to pursue government funding for utility upgrades should be pursued. And if the city wants a new library complex, why wasn’t there a request for cash? Between in-camera meetings and not allowing residents to go to referendum on the library complex, this council’s promises of openness are falling short. In both cases, the processes may be legal, but ultimately they are not serving the public interest. It’s time for the city to reconsider its policies.
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