Off the Rails 8

The June 6, 2009 NDP leadership convention in Regina was the second one I have attended. Unlike my first one, in 2001, when the candidate I preferred was selected leader of the Saskatchewan NDP, this time my personal choice was runner-up. Aside from being disappointed in the result, I was sad to see that media coverage of the day had no comment on the candidates' demonstrations and speeches to the assembled delegates. Yes, online and mail-in balloting have minimized the importance of these elements of a political leadership convention, but they still retain some impact - if not for the people who vote "live," then certainly for the candidates' supporters. This post, replete with photos by Pearl Doris Morin and myself, attempts to rectify that omission.

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- Deb Higgins got the first shot at impressing the delegates who had not yet voted. Her "demonstration" demonstrably lacked the high level of enthusiasm (and large number of placard-waving supporters . . .) that is de rigueur at these events. The music accompanying her walk to the speaker's podium was energetic, but predictable - Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising." [I've always thought this song was about America rising up to face the terrorist extremism manifest in the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Read the lyrics at http://www.countrygoldusa.com/the_rising.asp I suppose it could be used as an analogy for the NDP's purported 'rise' - in opposition to the current Saskatchewan experience under a Sask. Party government - but that's a thematic stretch I'd never have considered . . . .] The demonstration was short, and the speech to the crowd very good - direct, emphatic, peppered with a few nice turns of phrase.
Overall grade: B

- Dwain Lingenfelter's supporters showed why he was the frontrunner from the day he announced his candidacy: an extremely energetic group marched with him from the back of the room, and he took a long time to respond to and savour the adulation of the crowd as he walked to the stage. Too bad the choice of music, some ultra-esoteric jazz piece by Jack Semple [who, despite being a Saskatchewan product, doesn't know squat about political convention background music: this may have been a paean to Lingenfelter's core of fifty-to-sixty-five-year-old campaign organizers, but it was out of place on a dull Saturday morning, where the goal should be to invigorate the assembled crowd of party fanatics]. The flat opening soundtrack was followed by uninspired reading of a [standard] speech. As Lingenfelter left the stage there was a serious burst of communicable energy in the song blasting along to his exit, but it got cut off far too quickly. Also of note: the corrugated plastic "Link" signs were a memorable, effective design, and can easily be recycled in the Regina Douglas Park byelection.

Overall grade: C-

- Yens Pedersen tugged at the heartstrings of a much younger generation as he made his way to the front, pulled along by Mark Shepard's "Together We Can Change the World" [popular on the airwaves in 2008, and a thought-provoker for party stalwarts who believe the Saskatchewan NDP is both over-populated by the 50-plus cohort and a long way from renewing itself via younger adherents. Give it a listen, at http://www.markshepard.com/togetherwecan.htm]. Unfortunately, the song was a confusing mix with the content of the video displayed on the big screen at the front of the room, which had lots of historical images. Yens, like Deb Higgins and Ryan Meili, is very photogenic, a quality that made it easier to listen to and watch him on the big screen. His speech was overloaded with references to Tommy Douglas, but good nonetheless. It might even have been inspiring, had it not dragged on so long. Also of note: the bobbing "Y E N S" headgear [see lower left of the photo above of Lingenfelter's entrance] was just a bit too Hallowe'enish to avoid being tacky [kind of like the US political conventions' styrofoam "skimmer" hats, which maintain a permanently uncool cachet].

Overall grade: B-

- Ryan Meili had an awkward start to his segment in the limelight - historical black and white photos were shown on the stage's big screen. This was followed by an upbeat tune, with great photos (many of which depicted his life as a physician) in a video that was easily the class of the crop. His nominators' statements alternated very effectively with video clips (although there were too many of them . . . .) and his supporters exuded much more energy than the other candidates'. When he finally walked to the front of the room, a very 'scattered' tune accompanied the entourage's movement [Ben Lee's "All in This Together" - hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geZehkuUvuk] Meili is a 'natural' speaker, who read a carefully crafted text very well. He went overboard at the end of it, however, when his shouting into the microphone broke up in the sound system. Also of note: I fervently hope the (badly-designed) anemic little signs (truly - 8 inches by 12 inches!) represented his campaign's attempt to create as little garbage as possible.

Overall grade: B

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- THE FIRST BALLOT VOTE:

9444 ballots cast, of which

Lingenfelter 4360

Meili 2401

Pedersen 1380

Higgins 1303

After the first ballot results were announced, Deb Higgins and Yens Pedersen took turns at the centre stage mike. Both thanked their supporters, Deb conceded, and Yens announced he was dropping off the second ballot. Neither of them vocalized their second ballot preference. About half an hour later, Yens sported an oversized Meili T-shirt [a fashion nightmare]. Deb donned a Meili button.

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- THE SECOND BALLOT VOTE:

9130 ballots cast [had they all picked Meili, the 314 voters who 'disappeared' between the first and second ballots were still not enough to give Meili the win], of which

Lingenfelter 5028 (55.07%)

Meili 4102 (44.93%)

In selecting Dwain Lingenfelter as the leader who will take the party forward to the 2011 election, some people would say party members found more value in an anachronism than a visionary.

9th Regular Meeting of 2009 - May 25

Civic Election Changes & Anti-Nuke Armada


ABSENTEE: Councillor Greg Dionne

BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: 220 pages

START: 7:01 PM

Public Hearing: To Close an Alley in the South Industrial Area, Between 4th snd 5th Ave. East

- Brian Clavier spoke about inaccurate information in the background documents for this proposed street closure. Specifically, the Google Earth image reproduced on page 118 [http://www.citypa.ca/Portals/0/PDF2/Council_Meetings/2009/2009%2005%2025%20-%20City%20Council%20Meeting/Agenda.pdf] is very old: the alley is south of 42nd St. East, not Bartlett Street; and the undeveloped curve in the upper left corner is actually the (real, paved) 5th Avenue East. He also thought extending the closure through the un-named street (Bartlett?) mid-way between 4th and 5th Avenue should be reviewed.

[A (very) pregnant 10-second silence followed Mr. Clavier's remarks.]

- THE VOTE: 8 - 0, to refer the road closure to the bylaws section of the meeting.


7:15 PM Mayor Scarrow loses track of the where they are in the agenda.


Rotary Trail Progress - Go West (But Not North of the River)

- The report from Director of Community Services Greg Zeeben summarized this year's work and indicated that a report on plans for amenities on the trail should be produced.

- Councillor Ring asked about maintenance on the "edges" of the trail, since a request was made of him about controlling weeds along the trail.

- Mayor Scarrow asked about the report on other trail items. Zeeben replied that information would come to council's next meeting.

- Councillor Zurakowski reminded councillors that some parts of the trail were not yet complete, the West Hill portion being one of them. [Note that there are no plans to extend the Rotary Trail to the north side of the river, in the form that it exists on the south side. Nonetheless, the map on page 139 of the documents shows it crossing the Diefenbaker Bridge - as the existing 4-foot wide sidewalk - and continuing east to Little Red River Park - as a gravel path. In 2005 Brian Clavier suggested connecting the trail to Hazeldell and Nordale via a foot/cycling boardwalk on the old train bridge, but no member of council, administration, or a community club ever followed up on this suggestion.]


Let's Not Waste Civic Electors' Time (This Year)

- Mayor Scarrow moved the 14 recommendations, but did not read them. (He said that TV viewers who wanted to know what they were could see the recommendations on the city's web site.)

- City Clerk Cliff Skauge proposed to change this year's civic election process to reduce the special polls at the Herb Bassett Home and Pineview Terrace from three hours to one hour.

- Councillor Zurakowski wanted to know if the advance polls [subject to abuse as recently as the 2000 civic election] could be changed to take account of people who are out of town for two weeks. The City Clerk replied that the provincial legislation allows advance polls up to 13 days before election day. He also said that the provincial City Clerks Association is reviewing mail-in ballots as an option.

- Councillor Gervais said that if changes are being considered, how about requiring that identification be shown at the poll. [This requirement was suggested by Brian Clavier to Mayor Cody and city council in early 2001 - where it was rejected as a proposal for SUMA to consider - and subsequently sent to the Premier of Saskatchewan, the local NDP MLA (a cabinet minister), and the 2001 NDP provincial convention - where the politicians ignored it and the convention defeated it before it got to a plenary session.] The City Clerk replied that the voter registration form is used province-wide, and false declarations are subject to law enforcement [if you can afford the legal fees; abuse of the registration process occurred in the 1994 civic election in PA, but "enforcement" of the infraction was by an idividual citizen, not the police or a municipal official].

- Mayor Scarrow [recognizing the least important aspect of the proposed civic election changes . . .] asked for a report on the reasons for having one hour versus three hours of special poll. The City Clerk explained that there are few voters, and voting is usually complete at each building in less than 15 minutes.


The Power of a Tower

- The proposed telecom tower at Princess Margaret school was opposed by letters from Councillor Williams (who asked for a review of alternative wireless technologies and locations for the tower, and thus, that consideration of the item be postponed) and nineteen individuals who live near the school (located at 351-13th Avenue East).

- THE VOTE: 8 - 0, to postpone the matter until the June 23 meeting of council.


7:36 PM


Of the (officially, 67) City Boards and Committees, Only 26 are Actually "Council Committees and Boars " [sic - see middle of page 187] . . .

- Lyn Brown, CEO of the PA & District Chamber of Commerce, had written to council asking for a review of the city's committees and boards. An article she wrote for the April 2009 Chamber newsletter compared the city with 12 others in Canada. She found that Grande Prairie, Alberta, had the next-highest number of municipal committees and boards - 32.

- City Manager Cotterill, in his report to council, took the stance that the comparison with other cities was invalid. He did not address the issue of appointments to committees that have never met [there are at least six of those], which Ms. Brown had also raised in her letter, and used the term "subcommittee appointments" to diminish the number of council-created boards and committees. [He also neglected to note that the current mayor has created ten new committees since December 1, 2006.]


7:41 PM


The Mayor Attended/Was Fed and Feted at . . . .

- Mayor Scarrow, attending the nurses' celebration on May 13, found it "moving and exciting." It included City Clerk Skauge's daughter. He also received an $80,000 cheque from Conexus Credit Union for the soccer centre; went to the SUNTEP graduation, the Rebekahs' 100th anniversary dinner, an aboriginal business and economic development forum, St. Michael School's pow wow, and the sports hall of fame induction ceremony.


Inquiries - Weeds and Water

- Councillor Atkinson asked who deals with weeds on school properties, and whether the water crane can be moved to the edge of the city (since large trucks run their motors for heat or air conditioning, for long periods of time).


Public Forum* - Barrage from Nuclear Power Opponents
[*Speakers at public forum are officially restricted to five minutes. On this night, that rule was ignored.]

- Val Drummond started out mentioning her concern about the smell of dandelion spray at schoolyards. She moved on to thoughts about nuclear energy not being "green" or clean; the green industrial park not including nuclear energy facilities; the absence of a "renaissance" in nuclear power; the high cost of nuclear power plants; the inability to get insurance against damages from suchplants; the Finnish government's concerns over safety issues with the Areva plant under construction there; and the ignominious history of the cancellation of the CANDU Maple medical isotope reactor.

- Murdine McCreath talked about the beaver dam she takes out at 7 AM every day, and how energy is being wasted by both her and the beaver. She said energy and energy efficiency need to be looked at more closely, in terms of respecting the environment. She said the city was implementing no-idling zones [ONE was established - beside City Hall's air intake vent, on the north side of 11th Street, and Rivier Academy posted signs last winter asking parents to turn off their engines in a small student pick-up zone on 15th Street], planting trees [except for replacing dead ones on 15th Street West], and doing energy audits [in 1999 and 2000, but not since]. She said the city needs to publicize these good deeds [in spite of their picayune impact, and failure to be part of a larger plan - see the February posting "Off the Rails 2"]. Manitoba Hydro spends $30 million a year on energy efficiency programs [SaskPower will finally hit $12 million for this expenditure in 2012 . . .] and the Saskatchewan Environmental Society calculates that 400 megawatts can be shaved from the province's power needs by implementing various efficiency measures.

- Hank Ethier cited $17.5 billion as the federal government subsidy to the nuclear power industry from 1953 to 2002; $81/year as the cost of nuclear power plant construction debt for power consumers in Ontario; the lack of logic in using the remaining 45-year supply of uranium 238 for power production in Saskatchewan; and co-generation and renewable power sources as capable of providing the power we need. He said that $1.69 is gained for every $1 spent on electricity conservation, the green industrial park is a major opportunity, and the duty of council members is to know both sides of the nuclear power debate, then choose "for the good of the people."

- Rick Closs reiterated that nuclear power is not "clean," then referred to page 74 of the Uranium Development Partnership report, where "hundreds of thousands" of years are given as the time needed to "contain" nuclear power waste. On the other hand, "250,000 years" is not conceivable, and the ground above and below the waste storage site is unusable.

8:16 PM

- Steve Lawrence [was unique in adhering to the 5-minute time limit . . .] referred to problems with the tar sands in northwestern Saskatchewan that arose during the 2007 provincial election campaign. He said the end of "easy oil," and an oil-based economy in trouble, have combined to enable nuclear power to be presented as the answer. Green technology is here now, is getting cheaper, and doesn't require water. Finally, he mentioned the city should promote LEED-certified buildings [a refrain raised in point 8 of Part I of the Green Plan that Brian Clavier proposed to city council on January 28, 2008 - see the February post "Off the Rails 2"].

END 8:22 PM
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ADDENDUM - Intimidation Attempt Unsuccessful

At the end of the meeting the City Clerk spoke to me about my use of an mp3 player to record speakers at the meeting. (I recorded Stan Dignean's comments, as well as my own.) At the urging, clearly, of another member of the dais, the City Clerk suggested that recording members of the public was intrusive, and in contravention of council's procedural bylaw. Faced with this ridiculously frivolous attempt to intimidate me, I blew up: I yelled, at length; and I apologize to Cliff for that. (He was only the messenger . . . .) The conversation ended with me saying that if this were an issue, the next conversation about it would be with my lawyer.

Later that evening, I sent the following e-mail to the City Clerk, members of council, and members of the media. The topic has not resurfaced.
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Hi Cliff.

Nothing in council's procedure bylaw - Bylaw No. 10 of 2005 (59 pages) - or the amendments to it - Bylaw No. 23 of 2008 (3 pages), and Bylaw No. 32 of 2006 (one page) - prevents a member of the public, the press, or city council from recording anything at a city council meeting, as long as any electronic device used does not have an "audible tone or ring." [See sections 39(4) and 40(8) of Bylaw No. 10 of 2003, on pages 34 to 36 of http://www.citypa.ca/Portals/0/PDF2/Bylaws/Bylaw%20No.%2010%20of%202005%20-%20Procedure%20Bylaw.pdf.] Neither is there any mention in the city's bylaws of permission to record council's deliberations having ever been formally granted to members of the print and broadcast media.

My use of an mp3 recorder during council meetings (which recorder does not emit an "audible tone or ring") offends neither a city bylaw nor the personal space of the individuals recorded. On the other hand, I have noted that the still cameras used by the print media often emit an audible tone, one I find distracting. According to council's procedural bylaw, this sound is not permitted.

In light of council's repeated disregard of its own procedural bylaw, it is necessary to add to the three I cited during our conversation after the council meeting. Since section 31(4) of Bylaw No. 10 of 2005 limits speakers at Public Forum to five minutes at the podium, this limit must be applied to everyone. The time limit has consistently been strictly applied to my Public Forum presentations for the past four years. During the Public Forum presentations at tonight's meeting, the five-minute limit was not applied to the first four of the five speakers (Steve Lawrence self-regulated, speaking just under five minutes). Specifically, Val Drummond was permitted to speak for seven minutes and 55 seconds; Murdine McCreath, seven minutes and 40 seconds; Hank Ethier, five minutes and 52 seconds; and Rick Closs was allowed six minutes and five seconds. Strictly speaking, the clapping in the public gallery that followed these speakers' presentations is also not permitted by Bylaw No. 10 of 2005.

Prince Albert City Council cannot change its procedure at every meeting, to suit the whim of one individual or favour some members of the public over others.

Sincerely,
Brian R. Clavier

Special Post - May 19/09 Executive Committee

I attended this meeting to find out what might be contentious at the May 25 meeting (though the lack of thoughtful comment proceeding from these meetings to the regular council meeting that follows them is the norm . . .)

The less-formal executive committee meetings are rarely attended by the general public; speakers invited by the Mayor are frequently present. Because he does not have to wait for a signal from Shaw Cable (as he does at regular council meetings), the Mayor starts these punctually (or a little early).

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LATE: Councillor Gervais arrived at 4:09 PM.


SPCA Fee Waiver Request

- The Manager of the SPCA wrote to ask that the fees for the city's kiosk [$150] and stage cover [$400] be waived for the Walk For Paws Fundraiser in Kinsmen (Bryant) Park on September 20.
- Councillor Ring asked if the city ever collected these fees [since it seems that the groups using these items always ask for a fee waiver].
- The request was referred to Community Services for a report and recommendation. [At the May 25 regular council meeting, the fees were waived.]


Mobile Vendor Stirs Pot at Contentious Parking Area

- A letter from Stan Dignean requested permission to set up a mobile hot dog stand on 14th Street West, at the lot used [illegally, for over two years] for Belly-Up Pub parking. [As of mid-July, the ongoing legal battles between the Pub's owner, Joseph Tesar, and both the city and the neighbours on the west side of the lot await the judgment of the courts.] Mr. Dignean believes his presence would lessen conflict over the use of the lot.
- City Council's "Agenda Review Group" [an entity heretofore non-existent, but apparently created by the Mayor] recommended Mr. Dignean not be allowed to set up here.
- Councillor Williams agreed with the recommendation, because he was worried about the precendent it would set.
- Councillor Atkinson expressed his surprise at seeing a recommendation from the Agenda Review Group, since this group had never appeared before, in any document forwarded to members of council.
- Councillor Dionne noted that Mr. Dignean had found another location for his stand, so the request was moot.


"Flex Fuel" Vehicles Pointless in PA

- It was recommended that seven half-ton trucks be purchased from Mann Northway, and two 3/4-ton trucks plus a one-ton truck be purchased from Lakeland Ford.
- Mayor Scarrow wanted the report to the May 25 meeting of council to show that the vehicles acquired in this tendering process would be "flex-fuel capable" [meaning that they could be run on E85 (a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) - a product that cannot be purchased anywhere in the Prince Albert area. Clearly, this was merely window-dressing the Mayor's commitment to "green" technology.]


But It's for the Kids! (Telecom Tower at Princess Margaret School)

- The proposed 50-foot telecommunications tower at 351-13th Avenue East will connect the school to the Sask. Rivers School District wireless network. The tower is scheduled to be erected across the street from Councillor Williams' home. This item was postponed (by a unanimous vote) at the April 27 council meeting.
- Councillor Dionne said the tree canopy interferes with wireless transmissions from the tower at PACI.
- Councillor Williams remarked that the proposed tower location is 10 feet from a playground, and there are 17 or 18 "viewers" who live across the street from the tower location.

END 4:35 PM