The Editor,
Re. "Reimer asks for leave from council" (The Tri-City News, May 31).
MLA-elect Linda Reimer's request for a leave of absence from Coquitlam city council is inappropriate on many counts.
First, a leave of absence for any employer implies that there is an intention to return - and Coun. Reimer has no intention of returning to council. Would any employer accept such a request?
Second, Coun. Reimer chose to put her name forward to run in the provincial election and she is placing the onus on council as to whether there is a byelection. Therefore, if council decides it should run with a full complement of representatives, as laid out in the Local Government Act, then council can be scapegoated by Coun. Reimer, releasing her of any responsibility for the choice she made to run in this election some months ago.
Third, Coun. Reimer's own party leader has made the decision to cause a byelection in the riding of Westside-Kelowna. This suggests that spending taxpayer dollars on certain byelections is appropriate but not for local government.
So democracy should be served only for some levels of government but not all levels of government?
Finally, since Coun. Selina Robinson is in a similar situation, Coun. Reimer's request would suggest she thinks it appropriate for both of them to request a leave of absence, effectively running Coquitlam council short of two councillors for 18 months. If that is the case, why do we need eight councillors? If the city were run with two fewer councillors, there are significant savings to consider.
Steve Redey, Coquitlam
