Once again we have a municipal councillor ignoring travel restrictions. In late April, Langford Coun. Matt Sahlstrom visited his second home in Phoenix, Arizona.
The purpose of the visit isn’t fully known, because Sahlstrom hasn’t responded to interview requests by phone, email or text.
He has said that he travelled to Phoenix to do repairs on his home, or face a fine. For that reason he deemed the trip essential, though he refused to provide details or answer questions posed to him by his fellow councillors.
It seems fair to say he has been less than forthcoming.
This is not the first time a local politician has flouted travel restrictions. Last December, Victoria Coun. Sharmarke Dubow visited East Africa, and Metchosin Coun. Kyara Kahakauwila travelled to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico with her husband to attend a wedding.
Dubow at least had the grace to apologize for his trip, though only after it became known.
But Kahakauwila defended her decision, arguing her position is different because she’s not setting provincial health policy or advising people not to travel. The rules, in other words, don’t apply to her.
It’s time for some hard truths. People who run for and achieve public office occupy a position of trust and responsibility. It was absolutely up to Sahlstrom, Dubow and Kahakauwila to set an example that should be followed.
How can ordinary folks be expected to comply with the rules if people in authority feel free to ignore them?
The mayors in question, Langford’s Stew Young and Metchosin’s John Ranns, both initially backed away from taking a principled stance.
Responding to the news of Sahlstrom’s trip, Young first said Sahlstrom notified him before making the trip, but insists he didn’t have the power to stop him from travelling.
Then he added: “I’m staying out of it with him. He’s a grown man.” Young also noted that international travel, though discouraged, remains legal. Young’s position that he had no power to stop Sahlstrom travelling is entirely beside the point. No one suggests he did.
What he did have the power to do was speak out, as a community leader, in support of the restrictions on travel. It was his job to back up those policies, and to do so firmly, not hide behind the excuse that technically Sahlstrom hadn’t actually broken the law.
Metchosin Mayor Ranns, at the outset, provided cover for Kahakauwila, saying: “She had never set herself up as an example that should be followed.” So that makes it OK?
When pressed, Ranns initially refused to ask for Kahakauwila’s resignation as deputy mayor. She later resigned under pressure, as public anger swirled around her.
The impression Ranns left is that remaining on good terms with his fellow councillors mattered more to him than setting a proper example.
We need our politicians — local, provincial and federal — to face the facts.
We are in the midst of a damaging pandemic. Far-reaching restrictions on mobility have been enacted in hope of taming the outbreak.
There is much discontent and frustration among the public at large with these limitations, and the social costs they impose.
But people are willing to play by the rules, so long as they see the rules being followed, and enforced even-handedly. And the key responsibility for enforcing such policies rests on political leaders, whether they personally approve of the policies in question or not.
It’s always open to any public figure who disagrees to step down from office and argue the case.
But what is not open to these individuals is to continue in a position of trust, draw a sometimes generous salary, then display values entirely at odds with their duties.
There has been more than enough of the backtracking, ducking and weaving. The next time this happens, we need to see resignations, not excuses of the “I’m sorry I got caught” variety, or outright defiance.