Mayor Seeks Provincial Support/Answers

No definitive answers on either issue

As the above screen grab from the local Daily on Tuesday reports, Mayor Ruttan and several councilors and the city manager were meeting with provincial authorities to discuss a couple of Nanaimo issues. This is during the UBCM convention they are attending at Whistler.

The two issues of concern are Provincial support for the IFS $14,000,000  federal grant to fund the downtown to downtown ferry service, and a clarification on whether or not Nanaimo could have a WTE at Duke Point, even if city council opposes it.

A report in today's Daily says the Nanaimo contingent met with Minister Todd Stone looking for support for the ferry grant with the result that the Ministry of Transportation staff will sit down with city staff to get a better understanding of the proposal. Basically there was no commitment from the province to support the application for the Federal grant monies.

A meeting with the Premiers chief of staff with regards the WTE question also resulted in nothing definitive coming from the province.

Given that both of these items have been hot items in Nanaimo for many months, it is curious as to why the city of Nanaimo administration is just now seeking support from the provincial government. Of course the cynic in me would suspect this is an example of the city spin doctor manipulating a bit of pre-election posturing for our sitting Mayor. A question worth asking is why is this the first time city hall has approached the province on either of these issues. After all, the Legislature is a whole lot closer than Whistler.