Is councillor Garon in a Lot 444 conflict of interest?

General Forums Prince Rupert Forum
1

At the last council meeting there was discussion of Lot 444 and the need for more public information and the statutory requirement of a hearing before any bylaw changes can be made. Before that agenda item got under way, councillor Garon left the room. Here is a quote from the North Coast Review article:

“As the discussion regarding the process ahead was about to start, Mayor Mussallem made note that Councillor Garon had left the chamber during this discussion, but did not explain why that was required” < northcoastreview.blogspot.ca/201 … ublic.html >.

Council members usually only leave the room when they are in a conflict of interest. The Community Charter requires that "the member must declare this and state in general terms the reason why the member considers this to be the case’. Then they must leave the meeting and return only when the matter is finished with. It’s up to the chair, in this case the Mayor, to ensure that those procedures are complied with. < bclaws.ca/civix/document/LOC … section100 >.

So why did councillor Garon leave the meeting when Lot 444 came up for discussion? Great detail need not be given, but a council member must “state in general terms the reason”.

There seem to be so many mysteries around how this council has handled Lot 444.

2

Pure speculation:

But her husband, Terry, worked a lot on Lelu guiding work crews around. Might he be doing the same at Lot 444? And if so, how did he get the job? And hasn’t he been spotted at the Crest with Jack from time-to-time? All adds up to being very suspicious indeed.

3

[quote=“TerriblePerson”]Pure speculation:

But her husband, Terry, worked a lot on Lelu guiding work crews around. Might he be doing the same at Lot 444? And if so, how did he get the job? And hasn’t he been spotted at the Crest with Jack from time-to-time? All adds up to being very suspicious indeed.[/quote]

It’s no secret that Jack and Terry are very good friends. I believe Terry has been doing some work at one of the other proposed sites (Grassy Bay?) so maybe Lot 444 will be more work for him. I thought that, when a Councillor was in conflict of interest, they had to declare it, along with the reason, before removing themselves (I imagine BTravenn would know the answer). If this is the case, should Jack have also removed himself?

4

It really could be as simple as the fact that Gina and Terry own land near Seal Cove and maybe they have been approached to sell or have it developed should the Tuck Inlet Plant go through.