It doesn’t appear that recall legislation for municipal politicians will be on the table in sa国际传媒 if either right-of-centre opposition party were to win the provincial election on Oct. 19.
BC Conservative leader John Rustad said he prefers looking at shrinking municipal government term limits to three years. Meanwhile, Peter Milobar, former Kamloops mayor and current Kamloops-North Thompson MLA, said the BC United Party hasn't discussed the issue at all.
Speaking with Castanet Kamloops this week, Rustad said he would be more interested in moving municipal term limits back from four years, which was implemented in 2018.
Rustad said recall legislation is not something his government would consider unless municipal voter turnouts start to rise significantly.
“If you've got 25 per cent [voter] turnout and then they're not happy with the result, what we really need to do is get closer to 40 or 60 or 80 per cent turnout. It would be wonderful, because then I think you might be seeing different situations,” Rustad said. “I think the best thing that can happen is we need to find ways for people to get more engaged in local politics.”
Voter turnout in Kamloops in the 2022 municipal election was only about 30 per cent.
Rustad said four-year terms can be good for stability in local governments, but noted “obviously, in some cases we are seeing there is some instability." He said there is a line of thinking that there should be shorter terms.
He said, however, making that change is something a Conservative government would first workshop with cities at the Union of sa国际传媒 Municipalities convention before making a decision.
United party hasn’t discussed recall
Milobar said the BC United Party has not entertained the idea of introducing recall legislation, noting the provincial recall rule has never been applied successfully in sa国际传媒
“We honestly haven't had any discussions along those lines,” Milobar told Castanet.
“I think we have to be careful, that it's not some silver bullet that people think it might be. Can we tighten up what some of the sanctions and the ease that municipalities can work within those range? I think that would be probably where we land with the conversation, but at this point, we haven't had any actual policy discussion or anything of that nature whatsoever.”
Milobar said he envisions this topic being one the next government would discuss with cities at UBCM.
He said recall legislation is a good concept, but questions its practical application and how egregious an offence would need to be to warrant it.
Ministry not considering legislation
Meanwhile the Ministry of Municipal Affairs under the current NDP government has told Castanet that recall legislation .
In an emailed statement to Castanet Kamloops in mid-May, the ministry said elections provide “the fundamental democratic framework around which elected officials are ultimately held accountable for their decisions and actions.”
However, the ministry said it supports local governments taking more responsibility for the ethical conduct of elected representatives.
The Community Charter also outlines a process by which the municipality or members of the electorate can apply in sa国际传媒 Supreme Court to have a council member disqualified under specific circumstances.
This spring, former Abbotsford mayor was tapped by the ministry to act as a municipal advisor for Kamloops council. In his recommendations, which were released in May, Braun for dysfunction on council on Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, finding he was reluctant to change his behaviour or admit error.
In his numerous recommendations, Braun suggested discussing the need for changes to provincial legislation, possibly including a process for removing a member of council.
“The relationship between mayor and council is untenable and the status quo is not an option,” the report said.
Among his recommendations to the mayor, Braun urged Hamer-Jackson to let go of grudges and adjust his leadership style. The mayor is currently suing Coun. Katie Neustaeter over a public statement she made last year on behalf of all council which stated the mayor had crossed personal and professional boundaries.
Following the Braun report, council requested the mayor resign his post, which he refused.
This week, council as the city’s official spokesperson and point person in government dialogues, citing a failure or refusal to execute the will of council — the mayor’s responsibility under the Community Charter. Coun. Kelly Hall also noted previous privacy and code of conduct breaches by the mayor when discussing what led this decision.
