EDITORIAL – AAP has become the go-to method for getting borrowing approval

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THE THOMPSON-NICOLA Regional District has jumped on the AAP bandwagon as a method of getting borrowing approval for major projects.

At this week’s meeting, the TNRD voted overwhelmingly (26-1) in favour of using the Alternative Approval Process to borrow $6.3 million towards a new firehall and headquarters for Kamloops Search and Rescue in Rayleigh. (The rest of the $9.45 total cost would be shared by the City of Kamloops and KSAR.)

The only time an AAP should be used is when a project is essential to public safety or health, and an argument can be made that a new firehall and space for Search and Rescue fill that bill. But many of the arguments made in favour of an AAP in this case amounted to the same old lame excuses.

The Kamloops councillors who sit on the TNRD board were front and centre in that. Director Mike O’Reilly trotted out his favourite rationale — the AAP has been approved by the provincial government for decades as a legitimate method for local governments to borrow money.

In other words, it’s legal. Well, of course it’s legal. Nobody is suggesting it isn’t. The issue is whether it’s the right method in each case.

And Director Dale Bass also relied on one of her favourite arguments — that people who oppose decisions by municipal politicians are simply a “loud” minority.

TNRD staff, meanwhile, recommended the AAP because it avoids the cost of a referendum and can be done sooner. Well, this is an election year and a referendum could easily be held as cheaply as an AAP if done in connection with the next civic election, which is coming up in a few months.

Today, by the way, the City announced it intends to tear down Memorial Arena and the Kamloops Curling Club and put up a new curling and racquet sports complex, with construction starting in 2030.

There was no mention in the City’s news release which method of spending approval will be favoured but we can be almost certain there will be a strong temptation to use an AAP. Hopefully, however, by the time it comes to make that decision, a council will be in place that heeds the need to employ a properly democratic process — that is, a referendum — for optional amenities.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. 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.