Perceptions by Gerry Warner

Let’s begin at the beginning. There’s a word in this community that’s being misused. It’s not fair and it’s got to stop. It benefits no one to have this word constantly misused. Cranbrook is a fine community and it deserves better.

The word I’m referring to is “nonpartisan.” In my Webster’s dictionary, nonpartisan is defined as follows: “not partisan; esp. not controlled or influenced by, or supporting any single political party.” That sounds pretty clear and straight forward to me.

At a Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce meeting Nov. 23, chamber President Lana Kirk laid down the chamber board’s definition of “nonpartisan.” She said she was doing this in response to my question at the previous chamber meeting asking whether opposition candidates would get a chance to speak to chamber members prior to the upcoming provincial election in May.

In response, Kirk said: “The Chamber of Commerce is not a political organization. As such, we shall not take part in partisan politics even though we deal with political issues.” As a result, she said the only politicians who would be invited to speak to the chamber would be “leaders and cabinet ministers,” but added the official opposition would be accommodated “wherever possible.”

As for local candidates running against the incumbent MLA, “they in general shall not be given an individual speaking opportunity,” Kirk said, adding forums or panels will be organized for them “wherever possible.” She went on to say that when speakers address the chamber on issues of interest to the business community, the chamber will do its utmost to insure that they do it “in a way as apolitical as possible.”

A few minutes after Kirk laid down the rules, chamber members and guests got a chance to hear how the rules are applied when Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett rose to speak. In a 44 minute address, Bennett explained why he got into politics, defended his government’s policies over the years and pointed out that the chamber’s constitution says “the chamber’s obligation is not to be politically partisan and it’s not.” However, in the same speech, he also described Norma Blissett, his NDP opponent in the upcoming election as “an activist organizer” for the Citizens for a Livable Cranbrook and the CLC itself as “the ultimate political machine that has morphed into an NDP organization.”

Now there may be a lot of truth in what Bennett said, or not much depending on your opinion, but would any reasonable person, regardless of their politics, describe Bennett’s comments as “nonpartisan or apolitical?”

I think the answer is obvious. So how can this be reconciled with Bennett and Kirk’s earlier comments that the chamber’s role is to be “nonpartisan” and “apolitical?”

Time to get real here. Anyone who has lived in this town long enough to see the snow come and go on Fisher a few seasons, will remember that it was a former Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce president who took a leave of absence from his chamber duties to co-chair the “Say Yes to Opportunity Committee” in the East Hill referendum campaign, one of the most divisive issues in Cranbrook political history.

In the last municipal election campaign four former Cranbrook chamber presidents ran as candidates. MLA Bennett himself is a former Cranbrook Chamber President. You don’t need to have a political science degree to know that the Chamber of Commerce, along with other organizations in town like the School Board, the Labour Council and city council itself are used as convenient stepping stones for political careers.

But the chamber is in a unique position because it receives money – taxpayers’ money – from the city to perform services including operating the tourist information booths, taking care of the city float and marketing the city. In the 2012 fiscal year, the chamber received $86,800 in fees and grants from the city and I think everyone would agree it was money well spent. We have one of the best chambers in the province.

But on the political front, the chamber is not behaving nearly so admirably. Let me give you an example. Less than a month ago, the chamber was approached about having Opposition Leader Adrian Dix speak to it on his party’s business platform. Dix was told there was not enough time to arrange this yet before the month was over the chamber found time to schedule two special meetings at which Community Minister Bennett and Finance Minister Mike de Jong spoke.

Is this fair? Is this nonpartisan? Is this apolitical? Is this respecting the taxpayers of Cranbrook who provide the chamber’s budget? Is this respecting the chamber’s membership, who are perfectly capable of forming their own political opinions? Is this fair to the man who could potentially be the next premier of B.C.?

You be the judge.

Gerry Warner is a retired journalist and Cranbrook City Councillor. His opinions are his own.

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