The petition proponents for the #ScraptheTax initiative have added to their information flow this week, providing a snippet of what is apparently a provincially commissioned study from 2019 that explored port themes in Prince Rupert, a study which apparently has not as of yet been released.
The report, as noted by Mayor Lee Brain through his social media stream on Monday was accessed through a Freedom of Information request, the mayor stating through his commentary how "thanks to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request - we know the truth".
The proponents of the Scrap the Tax movement provided a bit more background on the topic through their own Social Media stream, as well as on the petition website.
Some of their information roll out covers the same notes as the Mayor, the remainder of their latest dispatch offering up an excerpt from their FOI request.
Included on the petition website is an excerpt from the report that was accessed through that FOI request, featuring an interview with the PRPA's Ken Veldman, the Vice President of Public Affairs and Sustainability.
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And rather than release the full report to allow residents and potential signatories to the petition to put the entire report into any context or gain a full overview of the government study, they will as they note in their PS, provide for excerpts of it through the week, those to be delivered through their social media relay.
Excerpts one imagine's which will be selected to serve their narrative of the petition focus.
The Prince Rupert Port Authority has a fairly extensive communication apparatus in place at the Atlin Terminal offices, so if there is any 'fact checking' or context to share on the FOI release, or any other themes directed their way by the Mayor and Scrap the Tax proponents, they probably have a way to share them with the public.
The larger issue perhaps, is that of a report commissioned in 2019 by the current provincial government that has yet to be released and that's a topic for North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice to take some leadership on.
Ms. Rice has yet to make any statement related to the petition which was launched on September 9th, offering no indication to date as to what her thoughts, or that of the government may be on the topic that has overshadowed the current civic election period and become a significant talking point for many of the candidates, mostly at the expense of many other potential election themes.
Since she's a member of the governing party in Victoria that apparently commissioned the report in 2019, the North Coast MLA should offer up an explanation why it has yet to be released.
As the Mayor's Social media stream from UBCM last week indicated, Ms. Rice did have some conversations with the Prince Rupert delegation to the convention, the Mayor indicating that Scrap the Tax was one of the key talking points.
Since the Port Tax Cap appears to have been the subject of some extensive conversation last week in Whistler, Ms. Rice should now provide some guidance for her constituents as to the scope of the discussion with municipal officials, as well as to offer up whatever solutions she may have to try to find a path to resolving the issue.
As for the petition, the last update on the various platforms for the Scrap the Tax petition has the signature count at just under 1,000, that account of the participation level coming from a September 17th update.
Past notes on the Scrap the Tax petition can be reviewed through our Council Discussion archive, while provincial themes are explored here.
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