I was quite taken by the letter by Victoria McMillan and her views as she attended the city council meeting last Monday.
I was at that same meeting, but have a different opinion of how the public behaved during the presentations.
As we were all in attendance for the discussion Miss McMillan was looking forward to, I am left wondering why she wasn’t disappointed to find that our mayor and council refused, and continue to refuse, to have any discussion at all. I am not sure why Miss McMillan is happy to pay (and yes, she does pay taxes) for Abbotsford city staff to be at the simultaneous Mission council meeting to answer questions, but not at our council meeting. I do not see any merit in this code-of-silence style of governance; it is demeaning and disrespectful to the taxpayer/employer.
I thought the public behaved admirably, especially given the days, months, years, and countless dollars they have spent trying to work with this out-of-control mayor and council.
Miss McMillan witnessed the one presenter who obviously did not oppose the P3 proposal and he did not find himself hampered in any way by the attendees, so it would be difficult to imagine hostilities suddenly developing if she were to speak. I am hopeful that she will be an active participant in politics in the years to come.
Laurie Hoekstra
