Should speakers at Kelowna public hearings be asked whether they were paid?

When people rise to speak to Kelowna city council at a public hearing they are politely asked to state their name and address.

Now that a major highrise proposal has been sent back to the drawing board after city council learned a number of students speaking in favour of the project last year were paid per diems, maybe that question should be changed?

Appelt Developments was given preliminary approval for a 25-storey highrise at 350 Doyle Ave. in downtown Kelowna last July.

Final approval was contingent on reaching an affordable housing agreement.

Earlier this week, council rescinded the development permit because it learned that Appelt, though a third party contractor (JDH Naturals), paid $250 per diems to a number of student supporters.

In response to the accusations, Appelt told iNFOnews.ca that, as far as they knew, it was not uncommon for speakers at public hearings to be paid.

READ MORE: Kelowna developer says its 'common' to pay people to speak at public hearings

Mayor Tom Dyas told iNFOnews.ca Aug. 16 he has never heard of that happening before.

So iNFOnews.ca put this question to him.

“You say to people at the beginning of a public hearing: ‘Please state your address and your name. Should you now be asking: ‘Were you compensated for being here?’”

“I don’t know, I truly don’t’ know if that’s what will come of this,” was his response.

Dyas was reluctant to talk about the project at all.

“There is just a lot that is in play,” he said. “All I can share is that council has a concern about what took place and wants to instill confidence in our citizens that the process, when we go through it, is fair and not one that is treated in this way.

“We have a concern that it’s a tainted process. It was brought forward to us. It was not something we researched. It came forward to us because other members of the community felt the same way.”

Les Bellamy, the leader of the Legacy Group that opposed the project from the beginning, did raise concerns months ago about the payments.

He also told iNFOnews.ca this week that, if it’s legal to pay people to speak at public hearings, then it shouldn’t be.

READ MORE: Kelowna council stalls construction of 25-storey downtown highrise

Dyas and City Clerk Stephen Fleming will not talk about any legal advice the city is getting on this matter.

But the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, in an email to iNFOnews.ca, indicated that such payments are legal.

“The Local Government Act does not specifically prohibit payment or expense reimbursement for people who speak at public hearings,” the email said.

“In Section 456(2), the Act says: ‘At the public hearing, all persons who believe that their interest in property is affected by the proposed bylaw must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to be heard or to present written submissions respecting matters contained in the bylaw that is the subject of the hearing.’”

For her part, Appelt vice-president Rebecca Waring said the students had come forward in support of the project but some had to travel to the meeting or miss work so the per diems were provided.

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