EDITORIAL – Eby owes an explanation for cutting off Fassbender review
Peter Fassbender. (Image: Wikipedia)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT has some ‘splainin’ to do to the people of Kamloops.
Without saying why, other than the old “going in a different direction” excuse, the Province has kicked Peter Fassbender out of the advisory role of helping Kamloops City council mend what’s broken about the way it operates — which is just about everything.
The timing is strange. Only last week, Fassbender was talking about having met on Zoom with some senior staff, the mayor and the councillors as a first step in his review, and would be coming to Kamloops in just a couple of weeks to meet personally with all the parties and do further research.
City staff have been given no explanation for why that isn’t going to happen. Neither has Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson. Not even Fassbender has been given reasons.
“Going in a different direction” usually means, “We’re doing what we’re doing because we’re doing it.” It’s also sometimes a clue that what was being done before just wasn’t working to satisfaction.
So what wasn’t working? Was it some sort of philosophical difference of opinion between Fassbender and the government about how to approach the Kamloops shambles?
Does the Eby government just not want to foot the bill for the investigation?
Was it political? Fassbender, after all, was a surprise appointment. He’s a former provincial Liberal MLA and cabinet minister, as well as a former city councillor and mayor of Langley. He was defeated by an NDP opponent in the 2017 provincial election and then lost a bid to return as mayor in 2018. Maybe the premier and his cohorts have simply decided to find somebody more closely attuned to their own brand of politics.
Maybe they’re planning to do something dramatic, such as legislate a takeover of Kamloops civic government by an appointed trusteeship board. Given Eby’s dictatorial style of dealing with municipalities, nothing should be ruled out.
Or, maybe, they’ve decided the whole exercise just isn’t worth it.
That would certainly be a huge mistake, and a betrayal of Kamloops residents who badly want the problems at City Hall to be fixed. Fassbender was to come up with a game plan for re-configuring the relationship between mayor and council by April.
With Fassbender out of the picture, the timeline is obviously going to be extended. By the time anything is put in place, things will only get worse at City Hall.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Wishful thinking #1: Eby and crew have decided they need to send in someone with more clout, so they’re having the Privacy Commissioner investigate the six known leaks from city hall, since they contravened the Act protecting people from leaks that result in harm to reputation.
Wishful thinking #2: Eby and crew have also decided to send in someone with clout from Municipal Affairs to investigate unsanctioned meetings held by the eight councillors.
Wishful thinking #3: Eby is sending in a third person with authority to rule on whether the councillors can kneecap the mayor’s standing committees by refusing to serve, even though the Local Government Act states that one of the primary duties of a councillor is to “participate in council meetings, committee meetings and meetings of other bodies to which the member is appointed.”
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I’m guessing it was political. At least a couple of Kamloops councillors wouldn’t have been elected without local NDP supporters behind behind them, and by default local voter apathy accommodated this. It will be interesting to see who the NDP puts forward as a candidate in next year’s provincial election; if they put forward a washed up councillor I’d be surprised if they get support. Even though I’m not a BC Liberal fan, I don’t have blind allegiance to any party, particularly if politics has a role in the Fassbender decision.
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This certainly draws more questions to the already muddied waters. As you suggested, Mel, it could be simply a matter of political preference.
One of my fellows on our “senior guys coffee drinking team” this morning asked if there might be things found that could be a bit more than normal wear and tear in the Mayor vs “the Team” stuff.
Skeletons in closets was part of the discussion.
Please keep us informed of updates as the line of time proceeds along the axis from this point.
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The whole situation is bizarre, can’t help but think it was somehow political. Was Fassbender a civil servants choice who was objectionable to the political leaders? Whatever the case, the whole debacle seems consistent with the local mess. I’d like a explanation but I’m not holding my breath for the truth.
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Council has no shame. A friend of mine showed me a remarkable email chain recently. She wrote to Council with a concern and received a reply. But then members of Council and the Mayor reply. Some councilpersons continue to reply to each other, presumably unwittingly CC’ng the citizen as they argue back and forth.
Nothing salacious takes place, but I can tell you that between Coun. Katie’s childish quips toward the Mayor, the only one showing concern for the Citizen’s worries was the Mayor.
Not a single council person showed a hint of concern. It was the Mayor that told the rest of them they shouldn’t be fobbing off a citizen and telling them to contact a Ministry with their concerns. He said it was the job of Council to do just that – hear the concerns of the voters and use their connection to voice those concerns to the Ministry.
If you think this Council gives a damn about the concerns of voters, think again.
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This email chain would be excellent to get out in front of the public – the “Team of 8” councillors fake facade of caring for the citizens needs maximum exposure – it embarrassing seeing this. Anywhere there is a camera, or photo opportunity, most of them will be there just for that moment – fake fake fake.
The Mayor genuinely cares about the citizens and it has showed time and time again.
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It could be the case someone complained about the fact that Fassbender is an older white heterosexual male…we now live in the woke-era and “they” are everywhere.
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