A proposed resolution that would have made the City of Powell River a Blue Community failed to find sufficient support from a majority of councillors at a recent committee-of-the-whole meeting.
Councillor Russell Brewer brought forward the issue, including background information on the Blue Communities Project and two proposed resolutions. The initiative calls on communities to recognize water as a human right, promote publicly financed, owned and operated water and wastewater services and ban the sale of bottled water in public facilities and at municipal events. A joint initiative of the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), it is designed to protect public water services and reduce the use of bottled water.
UBCM (Union of BC Municipalities) adopted a blue community resolution in 2011. North Vancouver, Burnaby and Victoria have become Blue Communities.
Brewer made a motion to refer the issue to council and Councillor Myrna Leishman seconded it.
Councillor Chris McNaughton said while he agreed with the premise of most of the proposed first resolution, council has resolved already to look at a service agreement to have the city’s liquid waste treated by the private sector. “To pass this resolution, until we’ve had an opportunity to deal, as a council, on liquid waste management planning and change the direction of council, I think would be the cart before the horse,” he said. “I don’t have difficulty with the values of the suggestions here. I have difficulty with the notion that we should not be able to enter into agreements with third parties to provide services where it makes sense.”
Councillor Jim Palm, who chairs the liquid waste management steering and advisory committees, agreed with McNaughton.
Councillor Debbie Dee was opposed to doing anything about the issue right then. “I need to do more research on this and I’m opposed to the motion,” she said.
Stan Westby, chief administrative officer, pointed out the city may have vending machine contracts in place for supplying bottled water.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway said she thought councillors needed more information from staff, including information about those contracts.
Leishman pointed out it would be two weeks before the issue came to council. “It’s plenty of time to find out what our legal obligations are,” she said. “The problem with these types of issues is that it’s always easy to put them off forever, rather than take the bull by the horns and make a decision, that really plastic is deadly and we should be getting rid of it.”
Dee pointed out there was a “whole bunch more in here than just plastic.”
Leishman countered, saying, “We should start. If we want to make a different resolution, we can do that.”
McNaughton said he would support the second proposed resolution, which addressed drinking water and water in plastic bottles. “I think wherever possible, we should not be using bottled water for events that the city is responsible for,” he said. “I think we do need to lead by example.”
Mayor Dave Formosa was absent with leave.
When the vote was taken, Brewer, Leishman and Hathaway voted in favour of taking the issue to council while McNaughton, Dee and Palm voted in opposition to it. Because the vote was tied, the motion failed.
McNaughton attempted to make a motion to bring the second proposed resolution to council, but no one seconded it.
Councillors then agreed to refer the issue to staff for a report.
