Letterbox: Port Moody mayor turns council into a circus, undermines democracy

Dear Editor

Watching a genocide unfold on our phones, our neighbours sought out community leaders to speak up against the injustice they saw. They went to council meetings for weeks, asking the city to send a letter to the federal government supporting a ceasefire in Gaza.

It may seem performative but there is a precedent.

On March 1, 2022, Port Moody council unanimously supported a motion that advocated increased military support for Ukraine as well as sanctions against Russia. At the time, Coun. Diana Dilworth said that, while it may seem like a small motion from a small municipality, council was “taking a stand.”

“I think the advocacy toward the federal government gives them further support knowing that both provincial and municipal governments are supporting the actions that they’re taking,” Dilworth said.

Mayor Meghan Lahti, then serving as councillor, said she was in “complete support,” calling the 2022 motion: “The least we can do.”

A mere two days after passing the recent Gaza ceasefire motion, one that Coun. Samantha Agtarap presented, Mayor Lahti called an emergency meeting. No information was given to the public, or even some councillors, and a re-vote on the motion was called and failed.

We’d love to take the time to enumerate all of the injustices against us since then from spending an hour being accused of spreading hate to circumventing the democratic process by calling an emergency meeting, to weaponizing committee members’ Jewish identities in order to blame proponents of the motion for their stepping down (Coun. Amy Lubik pointed out that those members stepped down prior to the motion passing), but we just don’t have the time.

Mayor Lahti and her band of bullies showed not one single drop of humility at Tuesday’s council meeting. She even went so far as to initiate a meeting with one of the Free Palestine Tricities BC organizers prior to Tuesday offering absolutely nothing. Curious that at the top of our non-resident speaker list was an Indigenous community member, who she later cut off and proceeded to adjourn the meeting citing procedure and rules. Council started the meeting with a land acknowledgement. So much for reconciliation.

When we asked to simply be acknowledged for the pain and hurt they had caused us with their emergency meeting, we were scolded like school children by Coun. Callan Morrison for walking out after public input. Read that again. Coun. Morrison scolded us for being upset at not being able to exercise our democratic right to speech and by finding another, peaceful, non-violent way to express ourselves.

Claiming this is a non-jurisdictional issue is completely ridiculous. Tuesday’s circus should be enough to tell you that it is a community issue. We are divided, and rather than actually trying to mend fences, the mayor and some councillors are choosing to do the easy thing rather than the right thing. That said, Coun. Haven Lurbieki alongside Couns. Agtarap and Lubik fought diligently to uphold democracy and humanity. They introduced a number of anti-racism motions, each one defeated by the Mayor Lahti, and Couns. Dilworth, Knowles, and Morrison. It seems even being anti-racist is just too divisive for some.

It is always incumbent upon the oppressed to adhere to the decorum and standards of the oppressors. Yet when they do, the standards shift and the bar is raised. If equity and inclusion are truly values of the city, then why is it only afforded to people who reflect council? If council is supposed to reflect all Port Moodians, as Coun. Morrison claims, then why would you drag your own constituents through the mud? They have no issue supporting Ukraine when the victims look like them, but to call for the end of a genocide against brown people is just a step too far. To say they are colour blind would be incorrect. What seems to be more accurate is that they are just blind.

Sincerely,
Free Palestine Tricities BC