Decision hits sour note with orchestra
With government, often the only safeguard to fairness is the process.
When two groups apply for a city grant and only one gets the cheque, eyebrows are raised.
Early in the year, the Richmond Community Orchestra Association was denied a $5,000 grant. The group was deemed ineligible because it missed the application deadline due to a mix-up when the offices moved and didn't receive city notices.
Months later, on Monday night, Richmond RCMP ask the city for $3,200 to take part in a weekend crime prevention conference. The cash will help pay for a "hospitality room," a $5,025 banquet with dinner and dancing, a $950 directors' supper, $22,100 for three days of meals, and $7,000 for guest speakers' travel expenses. Councillors and RCMP are expected to attend.
The RCMP got their request because the conference is being hosted in Richmond - at the Radisson President Hotel - and crime is important.
So why were the RCMP allowed to request, while the orchestra association couldn't? Because the Mounties asked for money, not from the grants fund, but from the "council contingency account" - whatever that is.
Whether the crime conference is worthy or not is not the issue. Councillors Harold Steves (RCND) and Malcolm Brodie (RNPA) were right to oppose the RCMP grant.
By doling out the money, council has made a mockery of the process others have to follow.
