Why do we need transparency in local government?

Transparency is a measure of the openness with which a local government runs its affairs. It represents the ease by which residents can find out about aspects of local government including decision making processes and finances. No ill can come from it and done well, it curtails the need for excessive freedom of information requests which consume town hall resources.

Transparency builds trust between council, staff and the public. Detailing how decisions are made and where public monies are spent are fundamental aspects of building trust. Even if residents do not agree with council decisions, they can trust the process if council debate and discussion is conducted in an open public meeting.

Transparency also promotes accountability. If council members know their actions and decisions are on view to the public, they are more likely to be proactive in their initiatives and accountable to justify their positions to their constituents.

Finally a culture of transparency provides a link to public engagement. A transparent relationship welcomes public input and engages citizens to keep abreast of the work being undertaken in our town by both the administration and council. A culture of transparency makes every one feel as though they are on the same team rather than some form of opposition.

How transparent is Qualicum Beach?

Apparently not as good as it could be.

I refer to an article written by the late Gil Sampson on July 21\2022 entitled Town Hall Transparency. This article highlights the steps the town will go to ensure residents remain uninformed of letters sent to council. Often members of the public write to council with well reasoned viewpoints worthy of sharing. It seems that two years later we are still facing this heavy handed approach. Town policy number 3000-20 was approved unanimously on June 29/2022 which definitely does not meet the minimum spirit of a "culture of transparency".

Further, since the pandemic, our town council has restricted public input in person at council meetings to only at Committee of the whole meetings and then only with respect to the specific topic on the agenda at that meeting. By contrast, the City of Port Alberni and the District of Tofino both accommodate public input periods at all their regular council meetings for the public to ask specific questions and to make comments .

It is time our town stops censoring resident voices and begins to see transparency as an important aspect of democracy and public engagement. Our elected officials are human and limited by their biases, education and experience. Even though it often feels our letters to council go unread, I urge your to continue to engage in thoughtful discourse. Your voice is important and one of the few tools you have remaining to influence local government policy. If you think other QB residents would be interested in your opinion feel free to copy Qualicum Beach Insights on your letters to council.

Finally I want to encourage residents to be persistent. It can take time to get response and even longer to get action. Just don't give up. We are all on the same team wanting to make Qualicum Beach the best place to live for everyone.

Marie Noel

August 20/2024

We invite readers to send your comments /letters to us at QualicumBeachInsights@gmail.com