During question period of the March 4, Castlegar City Council meeting, Mayor Maria McFaddin was asked a series of personal questions that she shouldn’t have had to answer.
Castlegar resident Richard Switzer asked several premeditated questions, which he read from notes.
He asked the mayor what her maiden name was, if she has a brother named Nathan Dalla Lana and what his occupation, place of residency and place of work were.
The questions were completely inappropriate, but the mayor answered them anyway.
McFaddin confirmed that her brother was a doctor that worked in Christina Lake and Grand Forks.
Finally, Switzer got to his real point: “Did you and Nathan make a verbal agreement that he would move his practice to Castlegar if you built the clinic here?”
McFaddin said, “No, he has no intention of moving his practice here.”
The question stems from gossip and rumours that have the mayor making secret deals to benefit her family by approving the medical office and housing project at the Pioneer Arena site.
“I found out doing my petition that you made an agreement with your brother to move his practice here,” said Switzer again. “Is that right?”
McFaddin’s response was: “I would actually be very cautious about listening to gossip that’s on the street, because, no, absolutely not, I do not have a verbal agreement … ”
She then reiterated that neither she, nor anyone in her family, were benefiting from the project.
The allegation regarding a potential conflict of interest from the mayor has been spreading for weeks across coffee shops, social media and kitchen tables. It was based solely on the fact that she has a brother who happens to be a doctor.
It is just the latest example of the types of harassment that politicians face.
A question regarding a potential conflict of interest is a fair one to ask any elected official. There are proper channels, like a basic conversation or question period, to seek answers.
But requests for personal information and information about one’s family should be off limits.
As a community, we should refrain from repeating information that can harm a person’s reputation or bring their character into question, at the very least, until it is confirmed.
Politicians are obviously not above wrongdoing and should be held to account when they cross a line. But that wrongdoing should be proven before we jump to a conclusion that may be absolutely wrong.
READ MORE: 27-unit housing project planned for Castlegar’s downtown