It caught my attention, if only because I wasn’t expecting it.
As I frantically flipped through the agenda in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District boardroom, the board of directors plodding through the new business portion of the meeting, Al Raine stopped me in my tracks.
He announced that he planned to ask the board to vote on a motion of support for the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.
I couldn’t believe it — Raine was going to ask politicians in the district to take a stance on something.
I still consider myself to be somewhat new to Kamloops.
Having moved to the city in the summer of 2012, I still find myself having to ask fellow reporters for background on long-standing issues.
I’m even newer to reporting on anything even remotely political — in this case, the TNRD board of directors.
But, I read the newspaper we put out, I talk about the politics of our town, province and country with my newsroom neighbours and I’m often frustrated by the hesitancy of our local politicians to pick a side.
So, when Raine said he was going to, in essence, force the TNRD to express an opinion on the Trans Mountain pipeline proposal, I had just one thought: kudos.
This is not because I necessarily agree with the twinning of the pipeline. To be honest, I don’t feel like I know enough about the project to make an informed argument for one side or the other.
As a reporter who has spent much of his young career writing about sporting events around Kamloops, scrutinizing a plan to twin a 60-year-old pipeline that traverses hundreds of kilometres across dozens of regions and communities still feels a little outside of my wheelhouse.
But, for many politicians in the TNRD, this issue is far from new. They’ve read the research, they’ve heard the arguments, they’ve sat through presentation after presentation, they’ve talked with interested parties and they’ve worked with interested groups.
And, most important of all, they were elected to be the voice of the people in British Columbia’s Interior. Who better to take the lead and take a stance?
Who better to start making decisions and expressing thoughts that will inform the opinions of the voting public?
In my relatively short history in Kamloops, I have sometimes been frustrated by the tightrope walking of our local politicians.
When I went to the polls last year, I voted for a group of people I wanted to govern my community, a group of people I trusted to make the difficult decisions, even though it might sometimes make them unpopular.
Whether it’s deciding to move forward on a $90-million performing-arts centre or expressing an opinion on the proposed Ajax mine, I voted for people I thought would do what they deemed best for the community.
In some cases, they have done that. On the Ajax mine debate, for instance, four councillors (Dieter Dudy, Denis Walsh, Tina Lange and Donovan Cavers) have taken a side.
When it came to water meters in town, council moved forward with installation of the devices (despite the results of a referendum) because they felt it was best for the city.
At the TNRD meeting this week, a couple of those same councillors, as well as a few others, will be asked to take a stand on the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion.
The TNRD is going to have to choose a side on a controversial issue.
With any luck, voters around the province will be able to look to their leaders for guidance, for help in informing their own opinions, as early as this week.
I for one, find it refreshing.
It wasn’t a development I expected at the TNRD meeting two weeks ago, but maybe our politicians have begun to live up to expectations.
adam@kamloopsthisweek.com
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