Filed for publication with the Mirror
Dear Mayor, Council and Staff,
I watched the proceedings of the Feb. 29, 2024 council meeting and was interested to listen to the presentation by Drs. Anna Kindy and Ingrid Pincott. I was keen to hear about the state of medical accessibility and care in Campbell River, and I was pleased that council had provided this opportunity to the doctors to share firsthand knowledge and information.
By the end of their presentation, I wondered why the city had approved this delegation, certainly without properly vetting the purpose for their request to appear. I was incredulous that the city allowed a council meeting to be the platform, under the guise of what may or may not be legitimate concerns for health care, for an obvious agenda by these doctors and more, that council seemed to agree with the inflammatory information they were espousing.
I cannot comment on either doctor’s professional abilities, qualifications, contributions to our community, or what impact our health care crisis has had on their practices. I can, however, comment that it became abundantly clear to me as they continued to present that they were speaking only for themselves, as they acknowledged the Doctors of BC were not complicit in their ideology. Their blatant display of partisanship regarding Bill 36, among others, had no place in Campbell River City Council Chambers. I do not appreciate being directed to an Aaron Gunn video further proselytizing to promote an agenda beyond the scope of our city. That Aaron Gunn is being endorsed by Mayor Dahl does not go unnoticed. Again, a highly partisan and inappropriate presentation in the wrong venue.
For reference, on April 23, 2022 Dr. Kindy spoke quite clearly about her views at a WE Unify - Freedom Rising gathering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bW1dMmzsyc
The March 26 event at the Maritime Heritage Centre referred to at the City Council meeting is, in fact, a Freedom Rising event: https://freedomrising.info/events/
To be clear, our medical system is undeniably in crisis. It is within the city’s mandate to report to the province regarding our difficulties, understanding that Campbell River is experiencing the same issues as most, if not all, other municipalities in British Columbia and most, if not all, other provinces. It is not within the city’s mandate to take a narrow view of two doctors to the province as Coun. (Doug) Chapman suggested. As for the matter of being referred to staff for a report to council, I object to my tax dollars being spent in this manner.
Kudos to the Sportsplex staff for denying a request to post these doctors’ advertising materials in a city building. No part of this should be the City of Campbell River’s business.
I look forward to hearing your individual responses to my concerns.
Deborah Broadley
Campbell River