Most people who follow politics at any level expect a little spin-doctoring from those who represent us. After a long meeting with a foreign leader, for example, we don’t expect Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to come out and say, “Man, what a snore fest that was.”
Like an average person’s Facebook postings, politicians put a happy face on whatever they are involved in. Fair enough. It is our job in media to figure out what actually went down.
But what we should not expect from our local politicians are “alternative facts.”
On Jan. 13 The Chief was alerted to a meeting of the Sea to Sky Corridor’s federal, provincial and regional elected officials regarding Woodfibre LNG.
This meeting was slated for Jan.27 in Squamish, according to an email we were forwarded.
MLA Jordan Sturdy and North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson organized the meeting.
Wilkinson’s name and number were on the email so we called his office several times. Long story and a Twitter argument later, we discovered that media weren’t invited and the meeting location was “yet to be determined.” We called three times, at least, over the following days to find out where the meeting was to be held. Eventually we figured it out.
Fast-forward to last week when we accessed emails related to the meeting through a freedom of information request. Turns out, the location of the meeting was known by all involved a week prior to our first call to Wilkinson.
Small detail to make a fuss about, right? Wrong; when politicians supply media with “alternate facts,” as untruths are often called south of the border these days, they are actually saying them to you, dear reader. The Chief is your eyes and ears while you tend to the important daily duties of your job and family. So we weren’t only misled, you were. If a meeting location isn’t relayed honestly, what else aren’t we all being told?
A follow up meeting organized by MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones was held earlier this month and again the media weren’t notified, though Mayor Patricia Heintzman kindly sent us her notes afterward.
Fall out from the machinations over a meeting and its location is that we aren’t telling you much about what went down – the meeting seems to have been about creating an online portal that would make it easier for the public to see at a glance what is going on with a big project like Woodfibre LNG.
Instead, we are arguing over the basic facts of the meeting’s location and attendees. That isn’t good for us, for you or, frankly, for democracy.
