Dee resigns from corporations
A City of Powell River councillor has resigned from two development corporations.
Councillor Debbie Dee announced at the March 7 council meeting that her resignation from Powell River Waterfront Development Corporation and Powell River Power Development Corporation was effective immediately. She explained that she had thought because the corporations were owned by the city, there wouldn’t be a perceived conflict of interest.
A recent BC appeal court decision, called Schlenker v. Torgrimson, ruled that elected officials who serve as directors of non-profit societies may have a conflict of interest if the society receives a monetary benefit from the local government. In light of that decision, Mac Fraser, the city’s chief administrative officer, recommended a precautionary approach and that Dee recuse herself.
Dee said she would rather “vote at the council table and remove all doubt whether or not I am indeed serving two masters.”
Treaty passes provincial step
Provincial legislators have ratified Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation’s final treaty agreement. It becomes the ninth first nation in BC to have its treaty passed in the last 13 years. The province has already ratified final agreements with Nisga’a, Tsawwassen, five Maa-nulth first nations and, most recently, Yale First Nation.
Tla’amin’s treaty must now be ratified by the federal government, expected to happen in the fall, before it becomes law.
The deal gives Tla’amin $29.7 million, economic development funding of $6.9 million, a fishing vessel fund of $250,000 and more than 8,000 hectares of land.
