Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins battling a behemoth from within
Times Colonist,
July 5, 2014
In many ways, it’s been painted as a David and Goliath story.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, in the role of David, has successfully defended her municipality from the Capital Regional District behemoth that wants to put a regional sewage treatment plant on the former oil tank farm at McLoughlin Point.
The battle — much of it fought behind closed doors as local politicians discussed the likes of legal opinions and site options — has raged for months.
Only in this fight, David knows every move the giant is going to make.
After all, Desjardins, Esquimalt’s CRD representative and a member of the core area liquid waste committee, sits in on every in-camera session the CRD has held and so has been privy to every piece of strategic and legal advice all CRD directors get.
It is — to say the least — an unusual situation.
No one is suggesting that there’s a conflict of interest, and all parties say that Desjardins has every legal right to be there. But Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt uses the term “conflict of office” to describe the situation he politely says can be “problematic” when a dispute like this arises between a regional government and a member municipality.
“Essentially, director Desjardins is present for those meetings discussing legal issues formulating the CRD legal response to the zoning issue and other issues relating to [the] Seaterra [sewage treatment program]. And the rest of the CRD board, obviously, isn’t privy to the Township of Esquimalt’s legal discussions,” Isitt said in an interview.
Isitt notes that provincial legislation clearly states that the determination of when an elected official is in conflict is up to that elected official.
“The rationale for that is pretty clear and valuable. We wouldn’t want a majority of elected officials to be able to bar their colleagues — potentially dissident colleagues — from very crucial discussions,” Isitt said.
While the existing structure of regional government is “challenging” and occasionally puts directors in a “precarious position,” there is no conflict, Desjardins said. And, she said, she doesn’t share any information she receives in closed-door CRD sessions with anyone — not even her Esquimalt council colleagues.
“I absolutely cannot [share information], and that’s the challenge we all face when anything is being discussed at CRD that pertains to our municipality, whether it’s sewage or whether it’s development,” she said.
But the question remains: Can a person “unknow” what they know?
“It’s a most unusual situation where you would get information and then commit to not using it at your municipality,” said Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard, a former CRD board chairman and senior board member. Leonard wonders if CRD staff don’t filter some information from their briefings, knowing that Desjardins will be in the room.
“I think our legal briefings would be more fulsome if she were not there, I honestly do,” Leonard said. “There’s no instruction to do that. There’s been nothing said to do that, and I don’t know if I could ever prove that’s the case, but I just think it’s a natural instinct.”
While not a conflict of interest in a traditional sense, the situation highlights an “inherent structural defect” in having a regional government that is comprised of people who are “elected and who first and foremost owe their allegiance to their municipalities,” said Michael Prince, a Lansdowne professor of social policy at the University of Victoria.
“When the rubber hits the road or the sewage hits the whatever, there’s an inherent role conflict here,” Prince said.
“But this is role conflict — a built in structural conflict or contradiction — and when the province says, ‘Oh, we won’t get involved,’ this will fester.”
Both Leonard and Prince say it underscores the need for regional district reform. Prince said that might translate to direct election of regional directors and more authority ceded to regional districts for certain functions.
“What it means is regional would become more robust. Would it be at the expense of local authorities? Maybe in a few issues. But at this point, I think people are looking for regional transit solutions, regional sewage solutions, regional policing,” Prince said.
Leonard, who a decade ago was part of a community council that brought about municipal government reform through development of the Community Charter, said the second phase was always meant to be a reform of regional government, but the province let it slide.
“The biggest challenges in local government in the next 25 years would be best served by regional solutions: the environment, climate change, waste management, transportation, transit, emergency planning,” he said.
Local politicians would rather catch a virus than look at amalgamation, but Victoria Coun. Geoff Young believes the best argument against amalgamation is having an effective regional government.
“If you don’t have an effective regional government, then, indeed, there will be pressure for amalgamation.”
Leonard notes even the “slightest hint” of giving more authority to a regional district “leads to outcry, not from the citizens but actually from the municipalities.”
Still, he said, something has to be done.
“We’re close to dysfunctional,” Leonard said. “That means the taxpayers aren’t being well served. The citizens aren’t being well served in terms of democracy, and the environment is not being well served in terms of the continued discharge of sewage.”
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© Copyright Times Colonist
Times Colonist,
July 5, 2014
In many ways, it’s been painted as a David and Goliath story.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins, in the role of David, has successfully defended her municipality from the Capital Regional District behemoth that wants to put a regional sewage treatment plant on the former oil tank farm at McLoughlin Point.
The battle — much of it fought behind closed doors as local politicians discussed the likes of legal opinions and site options — has raged for months.
Only in this fight, David knows every move the giant is going to make.
After all, Desjardins, Esquimalt’s CRD representative and a member of the core area liquid waste committee, sits in on every in-camera session the CRD has held and so has been privy to every piece of strategic and legal advice all CRD directors get.
It is — to say the least — an unusual situation.
No one is suggesting that there’s a conflict of interest, and all parties say that Desjardins has every legal right to be there. But Victoria Coun. Ben Isitt uses the term “conflict of office” to describe the situation he politely says can be “problematic” when a dispute like this arises between a regional government and a member municipality.
“Essentially, director Desjardins is present for those meetings discussing legal issues formulating the CRD legal response to the zoning issue and other issues relating to [the] Seaterra [sewage treatment program]. And the rest of the CRD board, obviously, isn’t privy to the Township of Esquimalt’s legal discussions,” Isitt said in an interview.
Isitt notes that provincial legislation clearly states that the determination of when an elected official is in conflict is up to that elected official.
“The rationale for that is pretty clear and valuable. We wouldn’t want a majority of elected officials to be able to bar their colleagues — potentially dissident colleagues — from very crucial discussions,” Isitt said.
While the existing structure of regional government is “challenging” and occasionally puts directors in a “precarious position,” there is no conflict, Desjardins said. And, she said, she doesn’t share any information she receives in closed-door CRD sessions with anyone — not even her Esquimalt council colleagues.
“I absolutely cannot [share information], and that’s the challenge we all face when anything is being discussed at CRD that pertains to our municipality, whether it’s sewage or whether it’s development,” she said.
But the question remains: Can a person “unknow” what they know?
“It’s a most unusual situation where you would get information and then commit to not using it at your municipality,” said Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard, a former CRD board chairman and senior board member. Leonard wonders if CRD staff don’t filter some information from their briefings, knowing that Desjardins will be in the room.
“I think our legal briefings would be more fulsome if she were not there, I honestly do,” Leonard said. “There’s no instruction to do that. There’s been nothing said to do that, and I don’t know if I could ever prove that’s the case, but I just think it’s a natural instinct.”
While not a conflict of interest in a traditional sense, the situation highlights an “inherent structural defect” in having a regional government that is comprised of people who are “elected and who first and foremost owe their allegiance to their municipalities,” said Michael Prince, a Lansdowne professor of social policy at the University of Victoria.
“When the rubber hits the road or the sewage hits the whatever, there’s an inherent role conflict here,” Prince said.
“But this is role conflict — a built in structural conflict or contradiction — and when the province says, ‘Oh, we won’t get involved,’ this will fester.”
Both Leonard and Prince say it underscores the need for regional district reform. Prince said that might translate to direct election of regional directors and more authority ceded to regional districts for certain functions.
“What it means is regional would become more robust. Would it be at the expense of local authorities? Maybe in a few issues. But at this point, I think people are looking for regional transit solutions, regional sewage solutions, regional policing,” Prince said.
Leonard, who a decade ago was part of a community council that brought about municipal government reform through development of the Community Charter, said the second phase was always meant to be a reform of regional government, but the province let it slide.
“The biggest challenges in local government in the next 25 years would be best served by regional solutions: the environment, climate change, waste management, transportation, transit, emergency planning,” he said.
Local politicians would rather catch a virus than look at amalgamation, but Victoria Coun. Geoff Young believes the best argument against amalgamation is having an effective regional government.
“If you don’t have an effective regional government, then, indeed, there will be pressure for amalgamation.”
Leonard notes even the “slightest hint” of giving more authority to a regional district “leads to outcry, not from the citizens but actually from the municipalities.”
Still, he said, something has to be done.
“We’re close to dysfunctional,” Leonard said. “That means the taxpayers aren’t being well served. The citizens aren’t being well served in terms of democracy, and the environment is not being well served in terms of the continued discharge of sewage.”
[email protected]
© Copyright Times Colonist