Now what?
very unlikely at this point although I voted for the party not her. I almost went Green …Fraser too phoney but Rice time will tell I guess
The best thing I can take from Rice winning is that at least we will be rid of her on a municipal level soon, where IMO she had much more influence.
Gary Coons was useless when he was in office and literally did nothing for this region (due to being part of the opposition) and the same will happen with Jennifer Rice.
So in a way, her power over this area has been reduced by this MLA win…the Liberals will push their agenda through for this riding whether they have Ms. Rice’s support or not.
Ditto that was a tough vote for me, but glad Fraser never got it… Rice to me is a snob which i find rare in the ndp sad…
[quote=“jamesbrown”]
Ditto that was a tough vote for me, but glad Fraser never got it… Rice to me is a snob which i find rare in the ndp sad…[/quote]
I find Ms. Rice to be quite nice actually. I didnt vote for her but have always found her to be cordial, and maybe a bit nervous in a public setting. For me, it’s nothing personal with her. It’s just that she represents the wrong party. She’s swimming with the big fish in Victoria now and we’ll see how she fares in that environment.
[quote=“Crazy Train”]
[quote=“leroy”]
Sit through a few council meetings.[/quote]
I was looking for something with a little more substance. I watch some of the meetings but not all. What have I been missing … [/quote]
Yes, on a personal level Councillor Rice is “nice”, but she has not been a strong contributor on City council. I say that having voted for her last municipal election and also from following council proceedings quite closely. She has had surprisingly little to say.
Her weak performance on council was one reason why I did not vote NDP this election although I voted for Gary Coons last time (the other reason can be summed up as ‘Adrian Dix’).
As an example, the City budget has been a complicated, drawn out and at times contentious issue. The council members reached a decision at the May 9 meeting. Here is a recap of some of the council members’ contributions (between 28 and 44 minutes on the tape):
"Councillor Ashley, then recounted the conversations with the public from Thursday and the recent session with CUPE and how that impacted on her decision to support the motion, protecting jobs and avoiding the loss of amenities for the City.
She highlighted the need to be financially responsible, looking for savings as they can find them.
Councillor Garon, echoed the thoughts of Councillor Ashley, thanking the public for attending the public forum and thanking CUPE for their contributions.
Councillor Rice, added Ditto."
< northcoastreview.blogspot.ca/201 … may-9.html >
I hope that MLA Rice resigns her council seat, works on her communications skills, and focuses all of her attention on representing the North Coast. We deserve a full-time MLA, and we need someone in Victoria who can bring a bit more than “Ditto” to legislative debates and committee work.
now that she has been elected she should resign right away and let the citizens of Prince Rupert have a byelection as soon as possible, and not draw it out until the next provincial sitting, even though legally she doesn’t have to resign.
The question about Jennifer Rice resigning is a little complicated, but not that difficult. If she resigns before the end of the year a by-election must be held to replace her, but if she resigns after January 1, 2014 the council can decide not to hold an election (see section 81 of the Community Charter and section 37 of the Local Government Act).
As for cost, an election costs about $10,000 (that’s according to Mr Rodin when electronic balloting was discussed). That’s about 1/3 of 1% of the City’s annual budget. The all-in cost would be less than that because Ms Rice would not be paid honouraria for the couple of months that it would take for nominations and notice periods. The total cost may be about $8000.
In the context of a $30 million budget, that’s not a huge amount. To make up for that, the Mayor and an entourage of councillors, staff and RCMP escorts may have to miss the annual pilgrimage for the 4th of July parade in Ketchikan.
The council could also use a by-election as an opportunity to have ballots on other issues, such as what to do about new police and fire department facilities; issues that they have been kicking down the road for quite some time but will eventually be forced to deal with, especially in the case of police facilities.
The Mayor in particular seems to be concerned about the cost of democratic processes, but by-elections and referenda should be seen as contributing to the public good. There are benefits to having a full slate of council members who are here most of the time, aware of what’s going on, and available to listen to citizens concerns and thoughts, including about how their tax dollars are being spent. Looking back at the recent budget deliberations it’s not like there is a shortage of issues for the councillors to deal with.
As for Councillor/MLA-elect Rice, she seems indecisive. She says that “it is too soon to say what the future holds”, but acknowledges that holding two jobs will be a problem: “My suspicion is that it is not appropriate to do both so the question is, when is the best time to step down that will have the least impact on the community.” < thenorthernview.com/news/207959771.html >.
Perhaps the issue should not be what has “least” impact but what will have ‘best’ impact for the community. Having a councillor participate by Skype from Victoria for an uncertain time is not a very good situation. She will no doubt be very busy in the legislature, learning the ropes and so on. Hopefully she will give her full attention to representing us there.
She should resign and a by-election should be held. Saying that democratic processes cost too much is a weak argument. That’s probably why when the Mayor says that he invariably skirts around telling us what a vote actually costs.
Ms Rice will have lots of company as she makes a decision about whether or not and when to resign from City Council:
"B.C.’s new government will include a group of people with some very specialized expertise.
They know the gritty details of garbage, transit and sewers, and the impact of funding cuts on little arts groups. And they will bring some of those local concerns to Victoria.
They are the unusually large group of mayors and city councillors elected as part of the B.C. Liberal team, accounting for nearly a fifth of the new caucus."
Thanks to oliveoil for reviving this thread as I missed this completely. I believe it was in Surrey where there was discussion about not having a byelection. I read this a couple of months before the election so I don’t remember his name let alone whether he won. The suggestion was should he win a seat as MLA he would not resign from council, but not sit on council either. No pretense at doing two jobs. Because he would not be doing city business, he would donate his honorarium back to the city saving the city the honorarium as well as the expense of an election. Of course the city would be one less councillor for the 18 months or so. Like I say, I have no idea what happened but having read your post, I like the idea of using a byelection as an opportunity for a referendum on the police/fire facility or even some poll to gauge public opinion. If we are going to have an election may as well make it efficient.
Regardless of the legalities, I can’t understand how a person can sit at two levels of government and not be in conflict of interest. A responsible person would make a choice and resign from one of the seats.
Ditto!
The public should insist on it!! It should also be a legal requirement … The princess I reluctantly voted for can’t have it all… lol I voted for the party not Rice…
We cannot compel our MLA to resign from city council. In my opinion it would be better for her and us if she resigns sooner so that she can devote herself to her new duties in Victoria.
Lets not forget that the constituents of the North Coast riding knowingly elected an MLA who also currently sits as a city councillor. “We” have asked her to represent us with a clear understanding that she would wear two hats. I don’t think that it’s fair for us to demand anything out of her as it pertains to her position on Council.
I get it. I was offering my opinion. You are entitled to your opinion. I disagree.
[quote=“hitest”]
I get it. I was offering my opinion. You are entitled to your opinion. I disagree.[/quote]
I wasn’t responding to you, I was responding to the general theme of the thread. Otherwise I would have quoted you.
The only clear understandings were (a) that a candidate does not have to resign municipal office in order to run for MLA - there were suggestions that she should resign from council - and (b) that if elected it is not against the law to hold more than one elected office.
During the campaign there was no “clear understanding that she would wear two hats” if elected and that is not Councillor / MLA-elect Rice’s position today.
As the article cited earlier says, it is “when, not if, she will step down from city council”. She seems to be leaning towards staying in office, presumably attending via Skype (the Mayor mentioned something about that last meeting), and presumably continuing to collect honouraria, so that a by-election will not have to be called to replace her. We may be thus spared the financial burden of a democratic process.
[quote=“BTravenn”]
The only clear understandings were (a) that a candidate does not have to resign municipal office in order to run for MLA - there were suggestions that she should resign from council - and (b) that if elected it is not against the law to hold more than one elected office.
During the campaign there was no “clear understanding that she would wear two hats” if elected and that is not Councillor / MLA-elect Rice’s position today.
As the article cited earlier says, it is “when, not if, she will step down from city council”. She seems to be leaning towards staying in office, presumably attending via Skype (the Mayor mentioned something about that last meeting), and presumably continuing to collect honouraria, so that a by-election will not have to be called to replace her. We may be thus spared the financial burden of a democratic process.[/quote]
I disagree. There was “a clear understanding that she would wear two hats”. She is a city councillor that was elected as MLA. We knew this and also knew there were no guarantees or requirements either way. Although there have been suggestions, as you stated, “(a) a candidate does not have to resign municipal office in order to run for MLA - there were suggestions that she should resign from council - and (b) that if elected it is not against the law to hold more than one elected office.”
Perhaps it may be best for her to resign her position on Council but I don’t believe we should be demanding it.
Also, thank you for your earlier reply above where you pointed out the “Ditto” comment. I just saw that.
She has not been sworn in as MLA. I believe that occurs after all the ballots have been officially counted which is sometime next month. I also don’t know how much council work or committee work has to be done before whatever summer slowdown occurs. Demanding an immediate resignation seems a bit premature but once she is sworn in as MLA, I would suggest that that be the time or the end of June at the latest. Just my opinion.
And while I was concerned at the possible expense of a byelection, I think a byelection combined with some kind of referendum - even a non binding referendum makes a lot of sense.
Don’t know if this is a dumb idea or at least an impractical idea but maybe this could be an opportunity for the city to find out what we consider priorities or how we feel about potential projects that various city department have planned for the future.