Tantramar council has delayed a series of appointments to the town’s Climate Change Advisory Committee (CCAC) after one councillor pointed out discrepancies between the length of the appointments and the committee’s terms of reference.
Councillor Matt Estabrooks asked to send back a motion to appoint Sabine Dietz, Dan Matthews, and Mikko McGregor-Corson. Though councillor Josh Goguen, who sits on the CCAC, and councillor Mike Tower voted against, the rest of council agreed with Estabrooks and so the appointments were sent back to staff for corrections.
Dietz is head of CLIMAtlantic, and a former Sackville councillor. She also ran against Estabrooks for his Ward 4 seat on Tantramar council last year. Matthews is a retired meteorologist and head of Dorchester’s Emergency Measures Organization. McGregor-Corson is an Environmental Studies student and organizer with Divest MTA. The three would have been appointed to serve on the advisory committee for 1.5 and 2.5 year terms, until December 2024 and December 2025. But Estabrooks pointed out that according to the CCAC’s terms of reference, at least two of those appointments should have been made shorter, to coincide with the terms of the people they are replacing.
Former Sackville councillors and Ward 4 candidates Sabine Dietz and Matt Estabrooks. Photo: Peter Stephenson
The CCAC will now be asked to recommend two people—one student and one community member—to serve on the committee for just six months, and then deal with vacancies again at the end of this year. A third position would be for a full 2.5 year term.
Estabrook’s objections weren’t limited to the fine print on term lengths. He also took issue with how Dietz, Matthews and McGregor-Corson were chosen, and asked to have the process for their selection documented and submitted to council. That request was not voted on by council.
No public call for committee memberships
Estabrooks told council that after the May 23 Committee of the Whole meeting when appointments were discussed, he was “approached by some very environmentally conscious and concerned constituents” who were disappointed that committee appointments were already decided. “They feel a public call of interest should have gone across Tantramar,” said Estabrooks. “While researching this for them, I discovered that there’s not a recruitment process in our current CCAC terms of reference, but I would recommend that one be added upon the next review.”
The town of Tantramar inherited four advisory committees from the former town of Sackville: Sports Wall, Arts Wall, Waterfowl Park and Climate Change advisory committees. While all have terms of reference which make council their appointing authority, none require public calls for participation before appointments are made.
Earlier during Tuesday’s meeting, council unanimously approved the extension of the terms for four members of the Sports Wall of Fame board of directors. There was no public call issued on the town’s website in advance of the re-appointments. The terms of reference for that board indicate just three members at large.
Climate conflicts of interest?
Estabrooks outlined one final objection with the Climate Change Advisory Committee’s membership on Tuesday, over what he sees as a conflict of interest with its members. The terms of reference for the committee say it will draw its membership from local conservation groups, but Estabrooks says that puts those members in a conflict of interest.
“In my opinion, it could be interpreted as a potential conflict of interest if any appointed member of the CCAC committee, or someone connected to them, as per conflict of interest policies, actively works or earns a living in the environmental and climate change adaptation and mitigation sector,” said Estabrooks.
To illustrate his point, Estabrooks proposed a hypothetical paving advisory committee, and asked councillors if it wouldn’t be a conflict of interest to appoint local contractors to sit on such a committee.
“I realize it seems a blatantly simple example, but it effectively illustrates just where my concern lies with some of the current CCAC members and some of the new recommended members,” said Estabrooks. “Yes, in my example, both companies are private corporations, which is different from a non-profit group. But the fact remains that the individuals still draw a pay cheque from the organization they work for, nonprofit-based or not.”
The Climate Change Advisory Committee sends recommendations to council, though is not authorized to disperse funds or allocate resources. CCAC chair Richard Elliot told Warktimes.com that the committee follows the same conflict of interest procedure as council itself, which involves members declaring potential conflicts in advance of meetings.
A move to exclude people working in the climate and environmental fields would eliminate eligibility for Estabrooks’ former council seat rival, Sabine Dietz, from a proposed appointment. It could also require the resignation of other already appointed committee members, including vice-chair, Adam Cheeseman, director of Conservation at Nature NB, and Amanda Marlin, head of EOS Eco-Energy, among others.
Estabrooks told council he sees a place for the likes of Dietz, Cheeseman, and Marlin in the more arms length Mayors Roundtable on Climate Change, a larger group that meets with the CCAC regularly. “Their expertise in these fields would be much better utilized and they would be better insulated from conflict of interest concerns, if they were used as arm’s length resources,” said Estabrooks.
The terms of reference for the CCAC actually encourage membership from people involved in conservation groups:
COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
The Committee shall consist of no more than twelve (12) and no fewer than seven (7) members. Membership shall include representatives from community-based organizations, such as:
– Local conservation and environmental groups
– Community stakeholders
– Business community
– A minimum of one (1) studentfrom the Town of Sackville’s Terms of Reference, Climate Change Advisory Committee
Estabrooks motion to send back the CCAC appointments for revisions was approved by council in a 6-2 vote on Tuesday, but the councillor did not formalize any of his other objections in motions to council.