If you’re unable to attend tonight’s park board meeting, slated to include the contested cetacean breeding ban, a conservation group has you covered.
After receiving multiple requests from across the globe, Sea Shepherd Vancouver decided to live stream the session via cellphone.
“Everyone’s been asking, ‘Can you let us know as soon as possible, or send us a text?’ We thought this was a good opportunity to let people know as it happens because there’s a lot of interest,” said spokesperson Jeff Matthews.
The bylaw, which would halt the breeding of cetaceans in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium, was approved in July by the Vision-controlled board. Setting up an oversight committee of animal experts, tasked with presenting a biannual report on the status of the mammals, was also agreed upon.
City staff will present the drafted bylaw and the terms of reference for the committee at tonight’s meeting (Nov. 24). However, the outgoing park board won’t be voting on the bylaw. Rather, it will be submitted as a report for the newly elected board, now dominated by the NPA, to look at once the new park board is sworn in Dec. 1.
Incumbent NPA commissioner John Coupar said his team will analyze it and “go from there.”
“We get reports all the time. This is just one that has received a lot of attention,” he said.
But according to an earlier interview with the Courier, fellow Vision commissioners Sarah Blyth and Constance Barnes, who didn’t run for re-election, still plan to put the bylaw to a vote. In order for the bylaw to pass, outgoing Vision commissioners Trevor Loke and Niki Sharma would also have to support the pair’s motion.
Coupar said it would be unusual if the bylaw passed because of the recent election.
“Normally, you have to provide notice on a motion and there is none. It’s really not procedurally correct in my opinion,” he added.
Matthews expects an interesting string of events to unfold.
“We expect that it’s going to be really close. We have two commissioners who believe the public consultations were done in good faith and that they came to a reasonable compromise, then we have a chair [outgoing Vision commissioner Aaron Jasper] who thinks it should be forwarded to the next board, which is nothing more than political theatre,” he said.
To watch the live stream, visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sea-shepherd-vancouver. The park board will also be live tweeting tonight’s results, while the aquarium will be sharing audio via YouTube. The meeting takes place inside the board room at 2099 Beach Ave. and gets underway at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
