Politician plays games with development

It became clear in the Telegraph Journal today that Ivan Court would rather play politics and "prove" he is more important than the community he represents.

• "This council is walking into a situation very similar to four years ago," the mayor said, referring to the tax deal for the liquefied natural gas terminal, a factor in the civic elections last month. "This time we have to make sure that we do it right."

Court would rather score points with the anti-LNG crowd (the large minority of citizens that elected him) than give proper consideration to the development of the IOL HQ.

• "We're talking about changing the skyline of the city of Saint John," the mayor said. "This is not going to be an 11th-hour decision. There's going to be consultation."

This is not an eleventh hour decision - the public is aware, the mayor and council are aware. They should discuss the topic and make a decision over the next few months. Instead they have decided to not discuss the topic until August.

This is the line that really gets me:"We need the people who look after our books to give us some input."

Terry Totten has been involved in making this deal and suggests it strongly. The book-lookers have given input.