Mayor should be more transparent on Ajax agreement
► Editor’s Note: Mayor Peter Milobar took exception to this column, and commented during the Nov. 22 council meeting.
KAMLOOPS — Am I the only one in Kamloops annoyed that city council’s Ajax negotiating committee withheld important information from their fellow councillors and city residents?
Remember how it was the responsibility of this Industrial Tax Base Task Force to negotiate – before there was an actual decision on the mining permit – a compensation agreement between the City of Kamloops and Ajax? Members representing the city were and still are, Peter Milobar, Pat Wallace and Dieter Dudy and it now appears they may be close to an actual Community Benefit Agreement with the mine.
It would seem that as far back as late August and into early September, the committee had reached a tentative understanding and their draft document was being made available to both Ajax and the provincial government. However, the committee failed to notify city council that a draft existed and was already being reviewed by the mine and government.