• Politics

Victoria's final council meeting cancelled after mayor pulls presentation

Victoria's last council meeting before the Oct. 17 election was cancelled Thursday night because too few councillors were available. ¹ It was the last meeting scheduled for this council. ¹ The cancellation came a day after Mayor Marianne Alto announced that a member of the public scheduled to make a presentation would no longer be allowed to. ¹

Rules require at least five councillors to be present to hold a council meeting. ¹ Asked why it was cancelled, Alto said: "Oh because we don't have a quorum. The majority of council members advised me that they were not available. That's the only reason." ¹

CHEK News reported that each councillor cited personal reasons. ¹ Susan Kim said her dog was ill, Dave Thompson said he had another meeting, Matt Dell said he had family coming for Thanksgiving, and Krista Loughton had another engagement. ¹ Coun. Marg Gardiner, who said she had objected to the presentation and raised it with the mayor, said she had intended to attend. ¹ Coun. Chris Coleman, the longest-serving member, said the only other time he recalled something similar was the Blizzard of 1996. ¹ No reports of other cancelled council meetings since then were found. The reports reviewed do not say the absences were coordinated.

The pulled presentation

Emma Hillian's presentation called on the City of Victoria not to attend the events of Chabad of Vancouver Island until it recognizes human rights abuses committed by Israel, the Times Colonist reported. ² It also made specific allegations against Rabbi Meir Kaplan, director of the organization. ²

Alto said her decision was based on the feeling that the presentation crossed a line. ² She said she felt it targeted Kaplan, a non-elected member of the community. ² The mayor said she did not take the step lightly because she believes in free speech, but that her "higher responsibility is to ensure that the city demonstrates the ability to disagree with civility and that it protects individuals." ²

At a Wednesday news conference, Alto said the materials were "neither civil nor kind" and brought to the table "an international matter that is far beyond the council's capacity or authority to take any action." ³ She said she made the decision herself and told the rest of council earlier that day. ³ She later told CHEK: "I agonized over this." ¹

After the slides became public, 11 new speakers registered, many saying they would respond to Hillian by defending Victoria's Jewish community. ² Victoria News said the agenda description of Hillian's item referenced the mayor's support of Chabad and "support of genocide in Gaza." That is the wording of the item's description. ³

The reports reviewed contain no comment from Hillian, other mayoral candidates or community groups.