MLA Linda Larson to ODN

I know there has been some confusion and it certainly was partly my fault as well as some staffers in the Ministry who did not contact me for clarification before putting out the first response to questions. The focus group will get their mandate directly from the Ministry. I have never been part of the group who is summarizing nor have I seen the submissions. That was done specifically to remove the perception of bias ( obviously that wasn’t good enough for some). Yes I did submit names based on the criteria that they were representative of those involved in the South Okanagan including the Pro Park Group. Doreen Olson was not one of the names submitted and started the public process of condemning the Focus Group by contacting the CBC to do a story. It has gone downhill from there. I have no doubt that had she been asked to be on this group she would be praising the process and there would be no story. As a Public entity it seems I must accept all and any form of criticism without response but I will not be bullied by this handful of Pro Park people who are unwilling to wait for the outcome of the consultation and continue to use the safety of the media to insult me and an unnamed focus group of volunteers.

Oliver resident Al Hudec comment to ODN on Profile of Stu Wells (sent to MLA Larson)

Stu’s comments (Former Mayor Wells) on Larson’s secret committee are refreshingly candid. There seems to be massive confusion about the genesis and function of Linda’s committee, first announced on your site on Nov. 13. The back and forth between MLA Larson and Minister Polak in recent days in press interviews and on CBC radio has done nothing to clarify matters. Linda implied the committee had an official role in reviewing and summarizing submissions for Ministry staff who would then look for common threads but that the focus Group would not make recommendations. Minister Polak says that the Ministry is doing its own review and that the Larson group has no official role, that it is just a group of constituents free to make submissions and make recommendations like anyone else. But the Ministry’s consultative process stipulated that the deadline for submissions was Oct 31. Larson says that her group were vetted by the Minister but Polak says they were picked by Larson. If this is just a group making submissions with no official role, why would they have to be vetted by the Minister. Polak says if it was an official Ministry group members would have to agree to make their names public but Larson says they are a secret committee. It seems to me if this focus group is just a bunch of random constituents chosen by Linda Larson to review submissions and lobby the Minister that as a matter of fairness and consistency the Ministry needs to make clear that anyone else who wants to review the submissions is free to do so and to lobby the Minister. It is totally inappropriate that only Larson’s group gets to see everyone else’s submissions and to make further submissions beyond the Oct 31 deadline.