Gary Deane writes “The Prairie province of Saskatchewan, the birthplace of the Canadian “socialized” medical system and numerous other progressive social and political movements is like nowhere else. A sense and spirit of community is bred-in-the-bone and threats to the collective are taken very seriously indeed.
A couple of items regarding proposed branch and service closures at the Regina Public Library recently have been posted to LISnews.
The following is the latest and remarkable development in the story, which may result in a interesting legal decision, if not precedent…
Gary Deane writes “The Prairie province of Saskatchewan, the birthplace of the Canadian “socialized” medical system and numerous other progressive social and political movements is like nowhere else. A sense and spirit of community is bred-in-the-bone and threats to the collective are taken very seriously indeed.
A couple of items regarding proposed branch and service closures at the Regina Public Library recently have been posted to LISnews.
The following is the latest and remarkable development in the story, which may result in a interesting legal decision, if not precedent…
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For Immediate Release
December 31, 2003
RPL Board Breaches Fiduciary Responsibilities?
Since the November 26 announcement to severely cut back the services of the Regina Public Library, the public outcry has been huge.Support for the work of our organization, Friends of Regina Public Library, has been overwhelming. Reginans are not only angry about the closures to Prince of Wales, Connaught and Glen Elm branch libraries, to the Prairie History Room and the Dunlop Art Gallery; Reginans are also angry about the process by which these decisions were reached.
Repeatedly, we have heard the questions: Why weren’t we consulted? Why this sudden crisis? Why pick on the inner city areas? But the Dunlop’s world-renowned…why? Why are they attacking our cultural heritage? Though we have tried, we have not come up with adequate answers to these and other questions.
The closures of our branch libraries, the Dunlop Art Gallery and the Prairie History Room are proceeding as planned. People — mostly women — are losing their jobs. Our public properties could be decorated with For Sale signs in the near future. Our cultural heritage is ready to be dispersed to the highest bidder. The hand-picked RPL Task Force has no power to change the decision of the Library Board.
And, even if it did recommend a reversal of the decision, the Library Board would not have to obey it.
For us, this raises serious questions of democratic responsibility and accountability. A Board of a public institution is not free to do as it pleases without regard for the public. In fact, the RPL Board has a fiduciary responsibility — a responsibility founded
in the public trust and the role of its members who are library trustees and stewards of public services as well as public funds.
For example, a comprehensive Strategic Plan was developed by the RPL and outlined steps to be taken over five years, 2001-2005. In Year One the RPL was to develop and implement a plan for sustainable funding, develop a sponsorship policy, a fundraising plan and revenue-generation initiatives, and expand co-operative programming with the community, and build community partnerships. We were led to believe, as recently as September 2003, that all was proceeding as
anticipated, that all was well at the RPL.
A public board is bound by law to provide live up to the standards of procedural fairness in its decision-making process. The RPL has a long tradition of doing that. Until November 2003, that is. When closures were being considered in 1998-1999, the RPL Board met with groups and individuals to examine options before a decision was made. This time, however, we the public were neither consulted nor informed of the financial concerns at the Regina Public Library as we had been in the past. We were provided with neither notice nor fair opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. The philosophical basis on which our library is premised is being changed and we have had no say in that matter, not even an opportunity to be heard.
A public board is the recipient of delegated power and, by law,is prohibited from giving that away. Yet, the RPL’s Task Force, set up in response to the public outcry against the cuts, has been given the power to hear the public’s comments and to make recommendations regarding the future of the Regina Public Library. It should be the Library Board of Directors hearing the public.
As a result, Friends of Regina Public Library will today serve papers to set a January 8, 2004 hearing date regarding our application for a Judical Review of the Library Board?s decision pursuant to part fifty-two of the rules of the Court of Queen’s Bench. We seek:
An Order in the nature of certiorari, pursuant to Rule 664 of The Queen’s Bench Rules, to quash and set aside the decision made by the Regina Public Library Board, on or about November 25, 2003;
An Order in the nature of prohibition or injunction directing the RPL Board to refrain, in any way, from moving forward regarding all announced closures, pending the completion of a meaningful public consultation process;
An Order in the nature of mandamus directing the RPL Board to develop a widely-available public discussion document and to hold public meetings
which would provide for genuine consultation with all residents of Regina prior to making a final decision;
An Order in the nature of a Declaration that the RPL Board must provide notice and itself conduct a genuine public consultation process before making any decision that fundamentally alters the nature of the Regina Public Library or the public library services it provides.
We act on the grounds that the RPL Board’s failure to provide meaningful public consultation before making a decision that will fundamentally alter the Regina Public Library is contrary to the Regina Public Library?s own practice and its specific assurances.
We act also, in the belief that the RPL Board has breached the rules of natural justice, the duty of procedural fairness, and fiduciary obligations of its Board Members as trustees and stewards of the library, and that it has no authority to delegate its obligation to hold public hearings and engage in genuine public consultation to an appointed task force.
For additional information:
Friends of RPL 306-537-0775
Vanessa Thorson 306-757-3061
Merrilee Rasmussen 306-537-6607
Bernadette Wagner 306-359-3947″
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