Councillor Betty Forbes called for better training on conflict of interest and freedom of information as she broke her silence on the pigeon controversy in the district.
At a council meeting on Monday, November 18, Forbes said she followed the advice of staff as well as independent legal advice on her conducted related to pigeons.
“Out of an abundance of caution, I recused myself on the council discussion on the bylaw. It has always been my intention to act with integrity and in the best interest of the district, both as a private citizen and more recently as a councillor,” Forbes said.
“If I have erred in any way, I assure council and the community that it was done inadvertently and in good faith and in my understanding as a new councillor.”
The council was also addressed by those who support the ban on pigeons and by those who felt Forbes had abused her position as a councillor in the process.
Council watcher Corrie Kost said the councillors have the same right as any other citizens and for someone to be on council doesn’t mean their grievance can’t be debated or addressed by council. Kost thanked the council for scraping the bylaw.
“The councillors have the same right to their quality of life as any other North Vancouver citizen. Any one of could have been negatively impacted by this bylaw, a vast majority are better off with this prohibition,” Kost said.
Another local citizen had a completely divergent view.
Addressing the council, Guy Trotter said the issue is of great concern to the electorate and raises serious questions regarding the integrity of council. He called for an independent review of the entire issue.
“It is of paramount concern that a councillor has given the appearance of using their position to advance their own personal interest against a member of their own community and this has the appearance of being facilitated by a fellow councillor. This appears to be a misuse of power granted by the community to this councillor, but only a though investigation can ascertain that,” Trotter said.
Local lawyer Vincent Santacroce was also critical of Forbes and Muri and called for an immediate review of the bylaw and an independent investigation.
Locals Peter Teevan and Hazen Colbert, however, supported the ban.
Teevan said Government of Canada identified pigeons as a pest, and humans are susceptible to diseases caused by them. Teevan said Forbes had followed procedure and did the proper thing according to the conflict of rules guidelines by recusing herself and not voting on this issue.
Colbert said he was thankful to Muri for the pigeon bylaw repeal. “Where I live, we have been dealing with the pigeon problem for two years, and thanks to Coun Muri for saving us thousands of dollars in damages to our building caused by the pigeons,” he said.
Harman Dulay, however, said council needs to realise that no two birds are alike, and that there are birds everywhere in North Vancouver. “There are squirrels, sparrows and crows, and they are on every ones property too. We can’t stop them either.”
Kulwant Dulay, the owner of the pigeons and Forbes neighbour, said he has gone the extra mile to ensure the pigeon coop is clean and the pigeons are not a nuisance for his neighbours.
Forbes, meanwhile, said she hoped the council and the community can move forward and work ‘collaboratively and collegially’ on DNV business. The district CAO, David Stuart, said the staff will arrange a training session on conflict of interest rules in January.
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