A cancelled council meeting last month drew frustration from West Coast residents calling for Tofino to support a ceasefire in Gaza.
A request for Tofino’s municipal council to write a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging the federal government to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza was postponed, drawing frustration from a Tofino for Ceasefire Now group.
Tofino for Ceasefire Now launched a petition at you.leadnow.ca that had reached 111 signatures as of Jan. 14.
“Tofino is a renowned tourist destination that attracts over 600,000 visitors annually from across Canada and the world. As such, Tofino holds significant recognition both domestically and internationally,” the petition reads, in part. “Our voice as a municipality carries weight in shaping public opinion and can encourage other municipalities and representatives to follow suit in urging the federal government to take decisive action.”
Karen Habib had hoped to speak to Tofino’s council about the petition and request the district’s support in a December 18 delegation, but she was told her delegation had been postponed to Jan. 15 as the Dec. 18 meeting was cancelled.
During the public comment period of council’s Dec. 12 regular meeting, Sully Rogalski tried to urge council to let Habib speak.
Public comments are only permitted on topics listed on the meeting’s agenda and Rogalski began their pitch by speaking to an agenda item regarding Tofino’s ability to opt-in to new vacation rental legislation.
Rogalski suggested the prevalence of short-term rentals in Tofino coupled with a lack of regulation around them “hinders the ability for people who live, work, rest, learn and play in Tofino” to access secure, long-term housing.
“Housing insecurity, which I myself and many others have faced, lends itself to community members constantly being displaced from their homes to enter the ‘housing shuffle.’ The heart of this issue lies within the constant fear that we’ll be forced out of the place that we know as home, that we’ll be required to relocate and that we have no control over if and when it happens to us. In short we’re talking about an issue of displacing people,” they said.
“If the council would allow me a leeway into another issue of mass displacement, I’m truly here today to ask for an amendment to the agenda, which would allow for Karen Habib to speak to the issue of Tofino for Ceasefire Now. I recognize that my comment strays from the issue of local housing, however I implore you to employ your humanity which can prevail over the bureaucracy of government process and allow me to speak to the urgent matter at hand.”
Rogalski attempted to continue speaking but Mayor Dan Law cut them off to deny the request.
“I cannot allow that and I will not allow that. We have to stick to process. We have bylaws and we will stick to the bylaws,” Law said.
“I understand you’re very passionate about an issue that demands passion, but we must protect the process because the process protects us. So, I’m sorry you cannot speak to anything that is not on the agenda.”
A district spokesperson told the Westerly News after the meeting that the decision to cancel the Dec. 18 meeting was made prior to Habib’s delegation request.
“The decision to cancel the meeting was made on Friday, December 8, 2023 after no submissions from staff were received for the meeting,” the spokesperson wrote via email.
“The delegation request came in after the cancellation of the meeting. The delegate was offered to speak at the next available meeting which is the Committee of the Whole Meeting on Monday, January 15, 2024.”
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