Province Won't Review Coldstream Council's Conduct

Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Wednesday, 29 January 2014 12:02
The group pushing for a governance study for Greater Vernon is upset at Coldstream council, but the BC government won't be taking action. The Greater Vernon Governance Society issued a news release today, saying it had asked BC's Community Minister to review Coldstream council's conduct, accusing the elected reps of having a "predetermined decision" and personal biases against a study looking into the pros and cons of unification or amalgamation. Vernon-Monashee MLA Eric Foster spoke with senior government reps from that ministry about the request today. "The opinion is the Coldstream council didn't do anything in contravention to the Local Government Act, so that's the end of the conversation for us," says Foster. Foster says if Coldstream had done something contrary to the act, there could have been a discussion, but he says that doesn't appear to be the case. On Tuesday, Foster said the province won't be funding a study into the governance issue, as requested by Vernon council and the governance society, unless all jurisdictions want one. Coldstream and the electoral area directors have already rejected taking part in a study.