Prince George city council directed city administration bring back options to disclose the names of directors and owners of companies buying land from the city or making land use applications.
Councillors Brian Skakun and Trudy Klassen raised the issue through a notice of motion, specifically regarding numbered companies.
“I think it is really important for the public to know who they are dealing with,” Klassen said.
City manager Walter Babicz advised council to broaden the scope of the motion to include all companies, as a corporate name may give little indication who is behind the company.
When making land sales or otherwise engaging with companies regarding land use, it is normal procedure for the city to conduct a corporate registry search, Babicz said. That is in part to ensure the people who are acting as agents for the company actually have signing authority.
However, Babicz said, the corporate registry only lists the people named as directors of a company, not who they owners are.
There may also be legal considerations, when disclosing the names of directors regarding land use applications, Babicz said.
Issues such as rezonings need to be based on land use considerations, Coun. Kyle Sampson said, not on who the owners of the land are.
Coun. Cori Ramsay said there is another reason to disclose who the directors of companies coming before city council. Ramsay said she had to recuse herself because of a conflict of interest for a land use application coming before council later that night, because of a connection to the developer. But if only the numbered company name was listed, she may have not recognized the potential conflict of interest.
“I think any step to bring transparency to the council table is an important one,” Coun. Tim Bennett said.
Council voted unanimously to have staff bring back a report, detailing options and potential issues which could arise from including the names of directors and owners of companies purchasing land from the city or making land use applications.
