
Kamloops councillor Dale Bass (L) and TRU President Brett Fairbairn (R)
A Kamloops city councillor is calling out the leadership at Thompson Rivers University for being unnecessarily secretive.
At issue for Dale Bass is a recent decision by TRU President Brent Fairbairn to withhold release of the agenda for the University’s Board of Governors’ meetings until 3 hours before the sessions start.
Bass — who brought the issue up publicly at Tuesday’s city council meeting — says it creates an air of secrecy.
“This is a time in our society when people are questioning the accountability and the transparency of public institutions. This is just another reason for them to keep on doing that,” argued Bass. “I can’t count the number of times I’ll get an email saying that we’re too secretive, we’re too quiet. When you see other public institutions doing exactly the same thing, in people’s minds, it just furthers that strange little belief that we’re something wrong.”
Bass contends this is an issue which is drawing more attention than she thought it might have.
“I’ve had many people approach me on this. I was really surprised,” said Bass. “I’ve had many people, members of the public who have interests in Thompson Rivers University, said ‘we don’t like this, this is not easy for us, it makes it harder for us to know what’s going on there.'”
Bass says she hopes this is an issue which can be discussed with TRU as part of semi-regular meetings between council and the University’s administration.
This was a recommendation put forward during Tuesday’s council session by acting CAO Byron McCorkell when pressed by Bass about options the City might have to address her concerns.