Kamloops Council & 'Strategic Planning Sessions'

Former Kamloops Mayor & Editor of the Kamloops Daily News Mel Rothenburger looks into the issue of 'Strategic Planning Sessions' and whether or not Kamloops Council can meet behind closed doors

As Mr. Rothenburger notes - Kamloops Council relies on (and puts Kamloops Council on thin legal ice) Section 90(1)(l) of the Community Charter when meeting in a 'Strategic Planning Session', which states:

(l) discussions with municipal officers and employees respecting municipal objectives, measures and progress reports for the purposes of preparing an annual report under section 98 [annual municipal report];

However, Kamloops Council (in my opinion) would be much more safer, from a legal standpoint, if it passed a resolution to close the meeting (Section 92 of the Community Charter) (Strategic Planning Session) to the public under the following Sections of the Community Charter:

90(1)(c) - labour relations or other employee relations;
90(1)(k)  - negotiations and related discussions respecting the proposed provision of a municipal service that are at their preliminary stages and that, in the view of the council, could reasonably be expected to harm the interests of the municipality if they were held in public;

The above sections of the Community Charter could be used by Kamloops Council to hold a "closed door" meeting (Strategic Planning Session) as Kamloops City Staff/new municipal services in the City of Kamloops are the two biggest topics (but not the only ones) that would very likely be discussed at a Strategic Planning Session...

Read his column here