Derek Kilbourn
Sounder News
The Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District Board will now be holding a General Meeting at 4pm on November 14. This comes after it had already set (and now postponed) a meeting for November 7. No reason was given for the postponment of the Nov. 7 meeting.
According to the agenda posted on the GabriolaFire.ca web site, two items were listed under New Business for the Nov. 7 meeting.
• Bylaw 108 – Capital Reserve (see below)
• Insurance
The Board was to have a regular monthly meeting at 4pm on November 6. That meeting was adjourned after the Board requested a member of the public cease video recording the meeting – which the individual refused to do.
The Nov. 6 agenda had included the same two New Business items, but also had standing agenda items such as Fire Chief’s report, a Training Report from the Deputy Chief, and a third quarter financial report.
At the start of the Nov. 6 meeting, after the Board had approved the agenda, Chair Paul Giffin asked if anyone was audio recording the meeting.
Derek Kilbourn, reporter for the Gabriola Sounder, was identified as one person doing an audio recording, for note taking purposes (not for broadcast).
Giffin then asked if anyone was video recording.
Wayne Mercier, a member of the public, said his intention was to record video, but understood the Board had objection to that. Mercier asked what the Board’s objection was.
Giffin asked Fire Chief Will Sprogis to start. Sprogis said, “our fire hall is a very collaborative fire hall. We invite many walks of people from the population of Gabriola, and we have one individual that is a vulnerable sector. They have keys to the building. They’re welcome here anytime they could show up to this meeting in the next couple minutes. And we’d ask you to respect their dignity and not video record today.”
Mercier answered saying, “to make sure that I understand… you are asserting that a person could arrive at this meeting who is a classified under vulnerable sector person. That person is not here at the present at the public meeting of the Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District, but they might arrive, and so you are requesting or observing authority to forbid me from recording.”
Sprogis said, “I’m forbidding you from recording because I would like to protect that person’s dignity.”
Mercier asked if Sprogis was asserting his authority, “as Fire Chief to forbid me as a landowner in the Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District, from recording a public meeting of the Board of Trustees?”
Trustee John Moeller interjected, saying that he would take on that authority as a Trustee.
Giffin asked if Moeller was making a motion. Moeller said yes, with the motion being that there would be no video recording of the meeting. The motion was seconded by Trustee Erik Johnson, and was carried.
Mercier attempted to ask Matt Dow, Corporate Officer for the Board, as to what authority the Board could prevent the video recording of the meeting. A brief outburst of multiple parties occurred, as Mercier tried to speak to Dow.
Giffin requested Dow to contact the RCMP, and said, “Mr. Mercier, this is your last warning. You are disturbing and interrupting this meeting. You are interfering with the conduct of business of the Improvement District.
“One more outburst, and I will ask you to leave.”
Mercier said, “I will refuse to leave the public meeting.”
Asked to stop video recording the meeting, Mercier refused to do so. Giffin motioned for the meeting to then be adjourned, which the other Trustees voted in favour of.
Mercier has uploaded his video of the Nov. 6 proceedings to YouTube, at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g-hvs_w8Ro&feature=youtu.be
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