Comments made during a presentation at a local government conference have enraged City of Powell River councillors.
Councillors Maggie Hathaway, Debbie Dee and Aaron Pinch recently travelled to Harrison Hot Springs for the Columbia Institute conference, called Placemaking: Cool Ideas for Locally Elected Leaders.
Murray Dobbin, one of the founders of Powell River Water Watch, was a presenter at a workshop called Municipal Finance and Taxation. Water Watch is a coalition of several community organizations opposed to co-treatment, a proposal to treat the city’s sewage at Catalyst Paper Corporation’s Powell River division.
Hathaway reported at a council meeting earlier this month the one event they “really wanted to attend” was Municipal Finance and Taxation. “We specifically went to this workshop to hear what our very own Murray Dobbin had to say. I have to say I came away from that meeting feeling violated, disappointed and angry. I, along with the rest of the council, work hard to do the very best job we can. When our opinions differ, we listen politely, consider the alternatives, then make our decision. Name calling has no place in this process. Mr. Dobbin referred to us as incompetent community leaders who had acquiesced to big business and said in no uncertain terms he was embarrassed to be from Powell River. Mr. Dobbin, I’m very sorry that you feel that way.”
Dee commended Hathaway on her restrained reporting of Dobbin’s presentation, which she described as negative and spiteful. “We were just enraged after we left there. I’ve actually requested a verbatim transcript. I would like to address in my report what I perceive to be the half-truths and innuendo that he projected, which did our beautiful City of Powell River absolutely no favours.”
Councillor Jim Palm said he was “greatly disappointed to hear that the leader of the Water Watch group would not only slander council, but make reference in a negative vein toward our community. That is very disappointing.”
Dobbin told the Peak that, as the three councillors know, he was extremely complimentary of Powell River the community in his remarks. “I never said I was embarrassed to be from Powell River. I said I was embarrassed about what our city council had done in acquiescing to Catalyst’s bullying. I also pointed out all of the frustrations citizens, including Water Watch, face in trying to engage council in a meaningful debate. We bring up real and extremely serious problems with co-treatment using facts and figures from the city’s own documents. What do we get in return? Far from being listened to politely, we are called disloyal, we are accused (by Jim Palm, Debbie Dee, and Chris McNaughton) of spreading ‘misinformation’ and ‘mistruths.’ The irony here is that the information we ‘spread’ is the city’s own information which councillors themselves haven’t even bothered to read—such as the misleading statements contained in the city’s funding application.”
