Unanswered questions - Summerland Review editorial January 14, 2010
(also Published: January 13, 2010 4:00 PM on www.summerlandreview.com and
Updated: January 13, 2010 4:50 PM)
We didn’t want it to end like this.
The investigation into violations during the 2008 municipal election campaign is over now, since the paperwork was filed much too late.
The filing deadline was six months after the November 2008 election, but the request for an investigation did not take place until December 2009, seven months after the deadline had passed.
The decision to drop the investigation means the members of municipal council can finish out their terms, but it also means the questions which have been raised will not be answered and the allegations cannot be supported or refuted. This does not help anyone.
Accusations of corruption and illegal campaign contributions have been raised.
An investigation would be able to prove, once and for all, whether those allegations were valid.
For the last few months, the reputations of the council members and a number of others in this community have been tarnished by the claims.
Summerland has made the news on a provincial and national level in a way none of us would prefer.
The story has now come to an end, but it was not concluded.
The case is closed but the questions remain unanswered.
Ending an investigation in this way should not be taken as evidence of the guilt or innocence of anyone involved. Neither is it a sign of a cover-up.
Instead, it demonstrates the need for reforms and revisions to the provincial legislation governing municipal elections, so nothing like this can happen again.
The allegations and resulting investigation have shifted attention from the important issues affecting the future of our community to something which has far less bearing on our lives.
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