Close vote?

The Wabush town council is siding with MNL in its decision to move all future conventions to St. John's.

In a recent Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador board meeting, the organization decided to move all its annual conventions to St. John's rather than circulating them between Corner Brook, Gander and the capital due to problems in securing accommodations.

In the Sept. 30 council meeting, Wabush councillors spoke on the issue and mayor Jim Farrell is glad his council decided to stand by MNL.

"With all due respect to the other communities - Gander and Corner Brook - St. John's is the best venue for that type of meeting," Mr. Farrell said in a separate interview with the Aurora last week. "Corner Brook and Gander have great facilities, but some towns aren't able to send as many people as want to go. Corner Brook can only accommodate two members from each community, whereas St. John's can hold five members."

He admitted it doesn't make much difference to Wabush since the council only sends two members anyway - Mr. Farrell and Cheryl Hardy are the voting delegates for Wabush - but he feels any community that wants to send more people should be accommodated.

He pointed out Corner Brook and Gander will still get to host the spring symposiums, which he believes should make up for losing the convention.

Wabush councillors voted 4-1 in favour of moving the conventions to St. John's last week and Mr. Farrell said the MNL membership will vote on the issue during this week's MNL convention. He thinks it'll be a close contest and noted it's a possibility the conventions will be forced back between the three communities.

Coun. Ron Barron, the only Wabush councillor to oppose the move, agreed it will be a close vote, but he hopes the idea is defeated.

He explained moving the convention to St. John's has been discussed before and the membership has consistently voted against the motion.

"It seems like St. John's wants everything," Mr. Barron said in a telephone interview last week. "I don't agree with that. These centres - Gander and Corner Brook - those areas have been hosting these conventions in the past and I think they've done quite a good job."

He realizes not as many delegates are able to attend the convention when it's outside the capital city, but he doesn't see the harm in sending only a couple of delegates and feels other concessions could be made to make more room for municipalities.

For example, the councillor feels MNL could scale back the trade show for the convention to allow more town delegates to join the meeting. He said people trying to sell their products could do it in another venue like the spring symposiums.

"The convention is there to provide a place for municipalities to discuss their issues and to plan for the future," he pointed out. "Should a trade show be part of that? I don't think it should be."

At one time, Mr. Barron said, the Combined Councils of Labrador meetings also used to be held in a central location - Happy Valley-Goose Bay - but the organization saw value in holding meetings in the smaller communities, and so should MNL.

It may be tight quarters, he explained, but everyone should get the opportunity to see what the rest of the province is like.

He understands why the Wabush council voted in favour of the move - cost and accommodations wise it would be easier for Wabush delegates to travel to St. John's - but the MNL convention is about showcasing the different regions of the province while discussing the issues.

"I'm disappointed council chose to go that route," he stated. "I think at the end of day it will be defeated on the floor and hopefully this time it'll be laid to rest. The board should not be able to dictate to the membership what they want. It's been defeated twice. Just because you don't get your way one day, you shouldn't keep fighting for it. There are more important issues out there than who's going to host this event every year."