Councillor Cathy Jewett will lead the charge on Whistler's new governance committee.
At the Feb. 12 council meeting, Mayor Jack Crompton appointed Jewett, Coun. Ralph Forsyth and Coun. Jen Ford to the revived Governance and Ethics Standing Committee, and appointed Jewett chair.
The committee's stated function is to "provide a focus on governance and ethics that will enhance the performance of council while maintaining the highest level of trust and confidence."
For Jewett, it starts with increasing education and transparency.
"Basically I see it as a potential committee for ensuring that we maintain relevance to the population, to the residents of Whistler," Jewett said.
"It's going to be as much, I think, about educating the residents on how governance works, and how there are certain rules that we have to stay within, but also ensuring that we understand what people are looking for and how they feel that we would be more relevant to them."
A Select Standing Committee of Council, the committee won't include any members-at-large from the community, but Jewett said she would like to see some form of citizen participation.
"I would like to ensure that people feel that they have a say in the way that we're communicating, and telling us how to do it better," she said.
A public engagement review will also be included in the process.
"So let's take a look at our committee structure—how is that working? Let's take a look at our public meetings, our open houses, all of that. Is it working for people?" she said.
Jewett also sees the need for increased youth engagement at the municipal level.
"It is so important that we broaden our scope of opinion seeking, and there are all kinds of different ways we can get that," she said, using focus groups, or utilizing different community groups as just two examples.
In terms of potential hard changes to Resort Municipality of Whistler policy, Jewett said it's still early days.
"I think it would be really premature to talk about what we're going to end up with. We know that we want to do better," she said.
"We hear from people that think, or have the impression about the way we do things, (but) we really do really ensure that we follow the correct processes, and actually, the law, because we're talking about the Local Government Act."
From Crompton's perspective, the revived committee is about striving to be better.
"Good governance isn't satisfied with good enough. This committee provides regular check-ins to ensure we remain confident our process is serving the public. When we find opportunities to improve, we will incorporate new policy," he said.
"My primary expectation is that we stay engaged in ensuring good governance. You don't want to take your eye off the ball."
Jewett was one of the candidates in October's election campaign who spoke about governance, Crompton pointed out, making her a natural fit to take the lead.
"Coun. Jewett articulated that direction extremely well. I share her vision for a governance committee that links governance to public engagement," Crompton said.
"I'm confident in Coun. Jewett's leadership and vision."
