On Monday evening, City Council once again debated a motion to rescind a resolution that had been passed at a previous meeting.
The resolution that Councillor Duncan Wong was looking to rescind was a request to province, asking them to amend the Thompson Charter Act to remove any reference to the size of council.
Before the debate, Councillor Wong wanted to postpone the discussion on the rescintion since Mayor Fenske was not in attendance. He put forward a motion to table the discussion, which was defeated.
When the debate started, Wong said that while he’s not against opening up the Charter, he says they should make it "worthwhile if they do". He said that right now the Mayor just wants to change the section referring to the size of council, changing the specific number from eight to six. Wong also said that he'd like to see Vale taxed rather than a GIL system, and that the Thompson Charter was never discussed.
City Manager Gary Ceppetelli responded to Wong's claims, clarifying that the proposed amendment to the Charter removes any reference to the size of council entirely, giving council the freedom to either shrink or grow at their discretion.
Deputy Mayor Colleen Smook echoed Ceppetelli, saying that the proposed change doesn't mean council will reduce in size, but rather gives council freedom, both now and in the future, to change.
Councillor Ron Matechuk spoke in support of the motion to rescind, saying that amending the Thompson Charter is just a "knee-jerk" reaction. He said that the debate about The Charter of Rights and Freedoms went on forever, and the least council could do about amending the Thompson Charter would be calling a special meeting of council.
Wong once again chimed in, saying that the Thompson Charter Act was never brought up during budget talks, but that claim was quickly refuted by Councillor Penny Byer. Byer said that the Charter was brought up at least twice during budget deliberations, specifically during the discussion on the size of council. She added that while she's not against looking at the Charter as a whole, but that no one asked about it before and the idea should have come earlier.
The motion to rescind was defeated by a vote of five to three.
Photo courtesy of Kyle Darbyson, Thompson Citizen.
