ROTHENBURGER: Interested, or not interested — that was the question for council

He said such reviews have been done elsewhere, and that recent conversations with current government ministers indicated interest. Further, he said, MLAs Peter Milobar and Todd Stone seem willing to champion the cause.

Hamer-Jackson was always going to lose the argument with councillors, but he sure gave it a good try. By the time they all exhausted each other, it was hard to tell what it was the committee, and councillors, actually wanted, because they began contradicting themselves.

At one point, in the heat of debate, Coun. Katie Neustaeter got so tangled up in her own argument in favour of the motion that she stated, “It’s not that we aren’t interested in a review, it’s that it’s not an option.”

But, of course, the motion she was supporting used the very words, “not interested in a third party review.”

At the end, Hall asked for an amendment to remove the words “not interested” and replace them with “accepts the province’s refusal of a third party review.”

That would clarify, he said, that council is open to a review but supports other ways of addressing the issue.

So, after starting out being adamant that it wasn’t interested, maybe council isn’t totally disinterested. Just… sort of not interested?

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.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by Mel Rothenburger

ROTHENBURGER: Interested, or not interested — that was the question for council

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