FILE PHOTO - Kamloops councillor Bill Sarai, pictured here as he is sworn in for his second term on Nov. 1, 2022.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A Kamloops city councillor has apologized Tuesday for his comments, more than a month ago, that questioned whether critics of council should get public funds.

Councillor Bill Sarai said he didn't accurately explain his concern when he raised the issue in January.

At the time, he said he was "uncomfortable" voting on things when non-profits are critical of council decisions "to the extreme."

"I want to apologize for maybe some of the comments I said that day that reflected I was against non-profits and handing out funding," Sarai said at a council meeting, March 12.

"My track record sitting on council and my community involvement does not support that."

Attempting to clarify what he meant, Sarai went on to say he wanted staff to review the "criteria" for selecting which groups get grant funds, but he doesn't want non-profits to fear that they'll lose funding because of his own opinions.

During the January committee meeting, he suggested only "neutral" non-profits should be awarded funding and those that are critical of city council should restrict their messaging to election periods.

READ MORE: Non-profits critical of council shouldn't get funding: Kamloops city councillor

"If you're going to criticize the same people you're going to ask for money, I have a problem with that," Sarai told iNFOnews.ca at the time.

Despite his Tuesday claim that he wanted staff to review application criteria for awarding city grants, it was councillor Stephen Karpuk who made that suggestion in January.

Sarai's motion, which went unsupported at committee, was directed wholly at those who criticize local officials and their decisions.

Sarai asked staff to review the "political affiliations" of the non-profits that ask for funding and the "influence" they have on their members. He welcomed critics during election periods, but said criticism of council decisions after an election made him "uncomfortable," complicating how he should vote.

The second-term councillor has since announced his intentions to run as a BC NDP candidate in the this year's provincial election, a week before making the public apology.

"I want to apologize not only to all the non-profits on this list but all the non-profits in the city that may be affected or concerned that councillor Sarai is somehow — it was released out there that I'm totally against non-profits or not funding them for a certain reason," he said during this week's meeting.

"The words that I used that day weren't what I was trying to get across. It was more the criteria piece. Non-profits are not in any danger of losing funding because councillor Sarai doesn't support it." 

Sarai refused to comment when asked this week for further clarification on his concerns around funding non-profits.

READ MORE: More offenders released to Kelowna without notice: MLA

The grant funding in question was given to 16 groups for various climate action projects, totalling around $23,500. Sarai didn't name a particular group publicly in either meeting.

Speaking with iNFOnews.ca in January, however, he said it was criticism from the climate-focused non-profit Transition Kamloops that drew his ire. The group was recently awarded $1,640 from the city's climate action grant, but its organizers had also used the group's platform to take issue with a council decision to support a fossil fuel initiative late last year.

Sarai pointed to a blog post and a comment on its website that criticized council's support of a FortisBC plan to connect homes with "renewable natural gas."

Non-profit organizer Gisela Ruckert called Sarai's suggestion "undemocratic," following the January meeting. She said it "raises questions about the true purpose of the grants."

The committee is still set to review the criteria used by city staff to measure grant applications from non-profits at a future meeting.

As for Sarai's hopes for a provincial seat, he hasn't officially applied for nomination with the BC NDP's Kamloops Centre riding association. He hasn't been selected yet as a candidate and it's not clear when one might be named to run against incumbent BC United MLA Peter Milobar.

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