Delegation accuses council of rudeness

CAROL GOODWIN

WATERLOO (Mar 27, 2003)

Three Waterloo residents are upset and troubled at how they were treated by city council this week when they sought support for a resolution on the war in Iraq.

David Wellhauser, Brenda Beatty and Sean Goebey had permission to appear as a delegation at Monday's council meeting to ask that a resolution be passed in support of the Canadian government's position on the war.

The trio attend university but said they were appearing as members of the community.

They read out the short resolution which, in part, asked that Waterloo support the federal government's motion stating that "Canada will not participate in the military intervention initiated by the United States in Iraq."

Instead of being asked to wait at the podium in case councillors wanted to question them, Wellhauser, Beatty and Goebey were told by Coun. Bruce Anderson, who was chairing the meeting, to return to their seats.

Coun. Morty Taylor then read a resolution believed to be a copy of the one passed recently by Kitchener and Waterloo Region councillors.

Without discussion, council approved it and voted unanimously to send it to Prime Minister Jean Chr?ien, local MPs and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

The students were outraged, calling the way they were treated unethical, undemocratic and rude.

They also objected to the municipal resolution which, by mentioning post-war efforts, gives "soft support" to the war, Wellhauser said in an interview.

He referred to a clause which states "that council hopes for an end to the conflict with a minimal loss of life.''

"We can't talk about post-war efforts until the federal government does," said Wellhauser, who is studying for his master's degree in political science at the University of Waterloo.

"Our resolution was hijacked and replaced by one contrary to our original intentions. We were humiliated," he said.

Coun. Scott Jones admitted that asking the trio to sit down before giving them a chance to be questioned by councillors, was "definitely an error and an oversight."

But he felt council's resolution encompassed the spirit of theirs.

"The two motions had the same intent," Jones said.

He said it often happens that when several municipalities in one region wish to convey a resolution to an association or another level of government, they synchronize their statements to communicate in a single voice.

"That was the intent," Jones said.

cgoodwin@therecord.com