Dear Editor:
Re: City sends 'emergency resolution' to UBCM to stop Kinder Morgan plans, Burnaby NOW, Aug. 27.
So Mayor Derek Corrigan and his Burnaby Citizens Association councillors are suddenly leaping to the defence of the public engagement process. Interesting, as one of the strongest criticisms of Mayor Corrigan and his party is that they continually ignore and brush aside opinions that do not match the mayor's own, and yet here they are attempting to champion the cause. Too bad their actions speak louder than their words.
Just look at the proposed Brentwood development. Mayor Corrigan decided that the only necessary public hearing was a comment session.
Now there is little doubt that this massive development project will have major impacts on everyone living in the area, yet the City of Burnaby did not feel it was necessary to have a full public hearing.
You know, one where citizens could put questions to the developer and the city and receive answers, much like Burnaby is calling on the National Energy Board to do.
I find the city's own words, taken from a report to council in regard to the NEB, also work perfectly in describing the City of Burnaby's public input process for Brentwood: "unbalanced, unfair, and biased in the favour of the applicant's corporate interests over the protection of the public from significant environmental, social and economic impacts."
Another prime example of Mayor Corrigan and the BCA's contempt for public input was when the BCA strengthened the breed-specific (dog) bylaws. The vast majority of people were against the use of breed-specific bylaws and were very vocal about it.
Did Mayor Corrigan and his council listen or care? No, they implemented the bylaws anyway, despite strong public opinion to the contrary. The City of Burnaby even limited public feedback to just submissions of letters. If Coun. Anne Kang believes that letter submissions limit public input so much, then why did she not raise concerns when the City of Burnaby made such limitations during the breed specific legislation debacle?
Interesting that our city council is so alarmed by the lack of public input that Coun. Paul McDonell calls out the NEB process as "as far as you could go for injustice."
Well, what about the examples provided above? Isn't our mayor and council guilty of the same actions? Granted, the scope may be different, but the criticisms still stand. If Coun. McDonell truly feels that a lack of public consultation is an injustice, then why does he continually remain silent when the City of Burnaby dismisses it in their decisions?
Or maybe I have it all wrong.
Maybe I should be celebrating the mayor's sudden embracing of meaningful public consultation.
Having a city that actually listens to its citizens would be a welcomed change from what we have been experiencing under our Mayor Corrigan and his BCA council and would go a long way to make Burnaby a better place to live.
Keith Bemister, by email
