Council’s recent decision to decline FortisBC’s borehole test permit, even though municipal staff, environmental experts and legal counsel said FortisBC met all the requirements for the permit, reveals a fundamental problem with District of Squamish governance and some councillors’ attitude to the rule of law.
Regardless of how one feels about FortisBC, natural gas pipelines or the Woodfibre LNG project, Squamish residents should be very concerned when some of their elected officials start to act beyond the very laws and rules council created.
The very foundation of the rule of law is that the “law should govern” and that our elected representatives are not above the law. A critical part of the rule of law is “legal certainty,” which means decisions by government must be made according to legal rules. This is a fundamental element of democracy.
What District of Squamish council did last month was skirt its own rules. Municipal staff, in collaboration with legal counsel, explicitly stated that FortisBC had met all the requirements for their borehole test permit and recommended the permit be approved. Council voted 4-3 against the permit, which means the mayor and three councillors knowingly ignored the very rules under which they operate.
Some activists have argued that what council did when it voted to deny FortisBC its borehole test permit was to act against a flawed rule. In a democracy, representatives are obligated to do the work and consult with the public about changing the rule before acting on it. Government has to be transparent about changing rules of law, and changes can’t be retroactive or punitive. By denying the permit, the mayor and three councillors ignored the existing rules of law that were legally implemented by previous admini-strations and made up their own rules. This kind of political interference and paying lip service to the rule of law undermines the system we hold dear.
What kind of message does that send to current and future residents and businesses of Squamish? You can meet all the conditions of a permit, staff and legal counsel can even recommend your permit be approved, but the mayor and some councillors could ignore the rules and deny your permit if it’s within their political interests to do so or because they simply don’t like you.
Think about it. You apply for a building permit, and municipal staff and perhaps even legal counsel confirm that you meet all the requirements. Then, suddenly, a majority of council turns you down because they don’t like the colour of your house – or worse, something more discriminatory or arbitrary.
The district is spending hundreds of thousands of tax dollars each year on economic development, only to undermine these efforts by destroying the consistent, predictable, timely process that is so critical to businesses that might consider investing in Squamish. Prospective businesses spend considerable sums in advance, anticipating being able to meet requirements of permits, only to be declined on random unrelated issues.
Councillor Ted Prior was concerned about property values, Councillor Peter Kent wanted more pictures (maps) in reports, and Councillor Karen Elliott was concerned that FortisBC should hold more open houses on alternate pipeline routes, none of which refer to the requirements of the development permit. Would their decision be the same if a film company or rec tech company made the same permit application?
As a resident of Squamish, this should trouble you. This kind of governing is a slippery slope, with our representatives making their own rules as they go along to suit their own political agenda in spite of the rule of law. It’s the kind of thing that happens in the developing world. It’s the kind of thing that can tarnish the reputation of a community that is trying to attract new business. It’s the kind of thing that can make something as relatively simple as a permit for a home renovation uncertain, time-consuming, expensive and frustrating.
If our mayor and some of council continue on this path, the next time you apply for a permit, your odds of approval could be no better that winning the 649.
I’m disappointed.
Rob Kirkham
Squamish Mayor 2011-2014
