Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says she did not know about Coun. Sharmarke Dubow’s December trip to East Africa until Tuesday afternoon, shortly before he made a public statement about his international travel.
“With so many Victorians making such sacrifices this past year to pull together as a community to stop the spread of COVID-19, Coun. Dubow’s decision to travel internationally was both disappointing and irresponsible,” Helps said at a news conference Wednesday.
Helps said she has no power to discipline Dubow, as he is accountable to the public. She said when she asked Dubow on Tuesday what he intends to do, he said he does not intend to resign.
Helps said she’s been flooded with emails from the public saying they did not travel out of province to see a dying relative and did not see family members over the holidays, so they’re upset that Dubow left Canada despite public health advice to avoid non-essential travel. Had Dubow told her of the trip beforehand, she would have advised him not to go, Helps said.
“As community leaders, we should be held to a higher standard,” she said. “We should be exemplary role models, following the public health advice that we’ve all received.”
Dubow did not reply Wednesday to a request for comment following the news conference.
The Times Colonist asked all 93 Greater Victoria municipal councillors if they had travelled internationally since the start of the pandemic. All but three of the 85 who replied said they had not left Canada, and most said they had not left the Island or their region.
North Saanich Coun. Heather Gartshore said by email Wednesday that since mid-March, she had spent a week in Seattle with her daughter and her family, departing “prior to the provincial travel ban.”
B.C. has not imposed a travel ban, but on Nov. 18, Premier John Horgan told British Columbians to avoid non-essential travel because of rising COVID-19 case numbers.
Gartshore did not respond to questions about when she departed and how she travelled to the U.S., since the land border is closed to non-essential travel until at least Jan. 21.
Gartshore said she quarantined for 14 days upon her return. “I will have nothing further to say on the matter,” she said.
North Saanich Mayor Geoff Orr said he was aware of Gartshore’s intent to travel to Seattle and was confident she would take every health precaution upon her return.
In his Facebook post Tuesday, Dubow apologized for his “poor choice” to travel to East Africa, saying he had been saving for the trip for years and had returned to East Africa for the first time since he fled the civil war in Somalia in 1992 as a child, although it was subsequently revealed that Dubow travelled to Ethiopia in December 2019 and Djibouti in January 2019. Later Tuesday, Dubow said it was his first time to Somalia and Kenya since he fled.
Dubow, who returned to Canada on Monday, is carrying out his council duties while in 14-day quarantine at a hotel in Vancouver. The City of Victoria confirmed that Dubow is paying for the hotel costs.
Victoria Coun. Stephen Andrew called Dubow’s actions “offensive to everybody in the city of Victoria,” while Coun. Sarah Potts said the public expects elected representatives to lead by example. “I am surprised and disappointed that my colleague, whom I greatly respect, made the decision to travel in a time where so many are making sacrifices to adhere to public health guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Potts said in a statement, noting she learned of Dubow’s travel when he posted his statement to Facebook.
Metchosin Coun. Kyara Kahakauwila has defended her December trip to Mexico for a friend’s wedding, saying she told Metchosin’s mayor, council and the district’s chief administrative officer before she left for the holiday.
Mayor John Ranns said he was aware of Kahakauwila’s plans to travel to Mexico and was satisfied with her quarantine safety measures.
However, Metchosin Coun. Shari Epp said in an email Wednesday that she was not informed by Kahakauwila, Ranns or any member of council or staff of Kahakauwila’s plan to visit Mexico. “Though significant sacrifices have been made by many in an effort to adhere to public health guidelines and stop the spread of COVID-19, some made the decision to recently travel outside Canada,” Epp said. “I was not informed, by Mayor John Ranns, Councillor Kahakauwila or any other member of council or staff of Coun. Kahakauwila’s plan to visit Mexico in December and did not, at any point, endorse or support her choice.”
Kahakauwila said she and her husband, Edison, went to Cabo San Lucas from Dec. 1 to Dec. 8 and quarantined for two weeks afterward. The councillor said she disclosed at Metchosin council’s meeting on Dec. 14, which was broadcast online, that she was in quarantine due to travel outside Canada.
kderosa@timescolonist.com
