Yesterday, at council, the president of one of the curling clubs (I think the North Shore club) came to the meeting and asked us for $6000 to help save this year's edition of a youth curling bonspeil. They were caught quite badly when the one person they had organizing the tourney quit.
I have a huge respect for the work volunteers do in keeping our kids in sports.
But, I could not support a straight grant because we had no advance information detailing the situation, and I was really scared of creating a precedent (go before council in the weeks before an election, and the purse strings are a little more open).
The majority of my colleagues had a different view. Tina Lange and I had favoured the loan approach, and the rest of Council supported the grant approach if the curling club needed it.
I fully agree with both you and Tina. It should have been given as a loan. Even if it was an interest free loan. The money given in the form council agreed upon sets a very bad precedent.
Posted by: Greg Droder | November 05, 2008 at 05:16 PM
City councils do not set precedents. Any by-law or decision by a city council can be amended or discarded at a later date. Precedents only apply to courts of law, where decisions on a particular subject must be taken into account by the current court dealing with a similar subject.
Government is never bound by its own decisions in policy, laws or motions. It can always change them, courts can not.
Posted by: Quimby | November 06, 2008 at 10:09 AM