Board bypasses Ocean Wise
By matthew burrows
Publish Date: 28-Sep-2006
Park board commissioner Ian Robertson has denied a charge of filibustering following a four-hour board meeting on September 25.
COPE’s Spencer Herbert (left) was disappointed that NPA’s Ian Robertson didn’t support his motion for parks to sign up for the Ocean Wise conservation program.
Robertson, the first-term commissioner and Non-Partisan Association board vice chair, is sustainable-development director at Rocky Mountaineer Vacations by day. But on Monday night, he voted with NPA commissioners Korina Houghton and Marty Zlotnik to soften COPE commissioner Spencer Herbert’s motion to partner with the Vancouver aquarium.
“I don’t think that [filibustering] was the case at all,” Robertson told the Georgia Straight by phone. “I said at the meeting that we had part of an idea, but that I was not happy with what was in the original motion.”
Herbert had wanted the board to partner with the aquarium on its Ocean Wise conservation program so that park board–run facilities would operate using more sustainable practices, including the use of salmon known to have come from a healthy run. Part of Herbert’s motion included “encouraging our concessionaires and restaurateurs to participate in the program before their licenses come up for renewal”. The commissioner also noted that “preservation and enhancement of the natural environment” are principles of the Park Board Strategic Plan.
However, Robertson and Zlotnik argued against basing lease renewal on participation in Ocean Wise, adding repeatedly that “Ocean Wise is a voluntary program”. “I don’t think we should be telling businesses what to do, but if we can support the program, that’s a good idea,” Zlotnik said.
Zlotnik opted for a letter-writing campaign “to all relevant tenants” before Herbert amended his original motion to include only “the three [park board–run] clubhouses”. The latter amendment failed to sway the 3–2 NPA majority. (NPA board chair Heather Holden declared a conflict for the votes and suspended NPA commissioner Allan De Genova was absent.)
After the amendments, the commissioners agreed to refer the entire motion back to staff. It will likely resurface in October at the planning-committee level after Mayor Sam Sullivan’s proclaimed Wild Salmon Month (September) is past.
“I’m disappointed,” Herbert said after the meeting. “It’s just politics and power games. The NPA [commissioners] knew they wouldn’t look good if they didn’t adopt Ocean Wise on our own facilities, so they refer it back to staff and away from the [public] spotlight.”
When asked why not a single person from the Vancouver Aquarium was present, Herbert said he had tried to contact staff at the Ocean Wise program. He said they all sent word they could not make the meeting.
Ocean Wise coordinator Mike McDermid said he did not snub Herbert. “If all the members of the park board want us to come and give a presentation [at the next committee meeting], we’d be willing to do that.…We’re happy to get people involved at any level to sustain the oceans.”
COPE commissioner Loretta Woodcock expressed disappointment that Robertson’s work in sustainability did not translate to support for the motion.
“For someone doing that type of work, he should be looking at it,” Woodcock said later by phone.
Robertson defended his action: “Sustainability is not just about the environmental impact,” he said. “It also includes economic sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and social impacts. But I’m also saying we can have a look at this and that there may be something here.”