SUNDRE - Council carried a motion approving a proposed amendment to the Sundre Wellness Advocacy Committee’s terms of reference to include two members of the Sundre Hospital Futures Committee.
The additional members will serve as non-voting members, with the objective being to keep the wellness committee informed about any potential issues of importance that may require advocacy or lobbying from the councils.
During the Jan. 24 meeting, Coun. Jaime Marr expressed the opinion that a public member should be kept on committee.
“We should keep a public member on the committee, but I don’t see why we can’t have a hospital futures representative on board,” said Marr.
Speaking in favour of the motion, mayor Richard Warnock, who also sits as a member on the wellness committee, said administration had advertised for a public member to join the hospital futures committee.
“There was no interest. And therefore, we had a discussion at our committee meeting as to how we could best go forward,” said Warnock. “The decision was to get the two members from the hospital futures committee so that we’ve got the technical data when we’re prepared to lobby.”
But that does not mean the non-voting wellness committee members will lobby with the hospital futures committee, he said.
“They are part of our committee. But they do have to be non-voting members because we are the lobby group, and they are not.”
The motion passed with Marr opposed.
A related follow-up motion to appoint Gerald Ingeveld and Joyce Wicks to the Sundre Wellness Advocacy Committee for a one-year term ending October 2022 carried unopposed.
As both deal with and lobby on behalf of the hospital through their involved with the future committee, Coun. Chris Vardas said the two are a “great choice” who will be a great addition to the wellness committee.
The committee is comprised of Sundre’s mayor and a councillor, as well as two Mountain View County councillors, the two non-voting members of the futures committees as well as a non-member recording secretary.
