Dear Editor,
Re: “Richmond residents want 'channel' for public complaints against city council"
I am shocked to find that Richmond city council acted like a big brother in conducting civic business by stopping residents from expressing their concerns.
I heard that a councillor openly criticized resident Fion Lo by saying "shame on you." How dare you Councillor Day?
By openly "shaming" a resident rather than lending your listening ears, pointing your finger to a well-intentioned resident, you only expose your arrogance and narrow-mindedness.
City council has so got used to having a smooth sail in conducting council meetings, and is unprepared to be accountable to public scrutiny, even dismissing some residents’ right to raise questions highhandedly, by alleging that as political statement.
Who is to judge whether a statement is political or not?
Every statement can carry political weight, and Mayor Brodie should have known very well that city council is a place where different political statements are presented, not just those that align with his own political agenda.
There seems to be no third party to oversee the council members’ code of conduct, and council is becoming another form of authoritarian mechanism to silence different opinions rather than promoting democratic debate and tolerance of a wide spectrum of opinions.
Albert Tsui
Richmond
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