Cavers’ hostel gambit sends the right message

When five Kamloops City councilors attended the Southern Interior Local Government Association convention in Revelstoke, they stayed in hotels.

Except Donovan Cavers, who stayed in a hostel, for $46. It has all the appearance of a shameless stunt designed to make him look like Mr. Frugal, a man of the people, the guy who’s there to guard the public purse by traveling on the cheap.

I like it.

It’s not the fact that he saved the Kamloops taxpayers a couple of hundred dollars. It’s that he went out of his way to send the very message he sent — that traveling economically on the taxpayers’ dime is not only desirable, but doable.

It’s a message that not many City councilors or regional district directors — or politicians of any stripe (need we mention Bev Oda?) — have gone out of their way to send.

Too many of them have had an attitude that they don’t get paid enough on their stipends so they deserve to live well when they travel.

John O’Fee and I used to try to send the right message when we were in office, and at times we weren’t very popular among our colleagues. A dozen years ago, when most of council stayed at the Empress Hotel in Victoria for a Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, O’Fee and I decided to stay at the Quality Inn a couple of blocks away.

We did it because we thought the room rates at the Empress were too steep, and we figured a lower-end hotel would do just fine.

Somehow, though, somebody got it into his head that John and I were trying to “set up” the rest of council to look bad, though that wasn’t the case at all.

Several of the other councilors were livid. In turn, John and I were considerably peeved at the rumour-mongerer. It was a tense convention but, over time, that particular council got over the rough spots and worked very well together as a team.

Nevertheless, the issue of travel expenditures continued to illicit differing opinions among members of council. Indeed, I recall one councillor being pleased when his research indicated that, over the years, the highest-spending council members did not seem to have been hurt by it at the polls.

As the council of 2002-2005 was winding down, I floated an idea of capping annual expenses, which was taken up in somewhat different form as soon as the next council got into office.

I don’t know how popular Cavers is with other members of council for his SILGA gambit, but I sense a growing awareness in City Hall that the public wants the people it elects to be careful with the credit cards.

The question is not whether City councilors should attend worthwhile conferences or go on lobbying trips. Indeed, the past two councils have not spent nearly enough time in Ottawa and Victoria, in my view.

No, the issue is whether or not travel is chosen carefully and yields results, and whether or not expenses are kept to a minimum and are carefully accounted for.

Maybe Cavers genuinely enjoys staying at hostels. If so, he’s surely the only person I know who does. But, let’s face it, his choice of accommodation made a statement.

Marshall McLuhan used to say, “the medium is the message.” In this case, the message was the hostel.

armchairmayor@gmail.com