Annual UBCM wraps up after hectic week
A hectic week in Vancouver ended Friday with optimism – but no firm commitments – for local politicians who attended the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities Conference.
Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said the city, in response to a request to the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, has been invited to make a more detailed case to the province for some of the 2,000 units of modular housing promised by the B.C. government.
Such transitional housing is meant to help get people off the street while they search for long-term accommodations and secure access to other social services.
“We want to present a case (to the B.C. government) that makes sense for them to help our city and our region,” said Jakubeit.
To date, the province has said in a press release only that 600 of the new units will be located in Vancouver, while the balance will go to other communities from “Surrey to Smithers.”
Jakubeit, who was accompanied in Vancouver by all six councillors and city manager Peter Weeber at an estimated cost of $17,000, said the conference offered a good opportunity to meet with colleagues from around B.C. to discuss best practices and lessons learned, plus hear about innovative projects underway elsewhere.
Meanwhile, three policy resolutions put forward by the City of Penticton were all adopted by UBCM delegates. The resolutions call on the B.C. government to investigate the possibility of allowing municipalities to switch some statutory advertising from newspapers to websites; to bring in rules to allow recall of local politicians; and to annually supply local governments with a B.C-wide business registry.
Just one resolution – dealing with the need for greater regulation of demolition contractors who handle hazardous waste – was put forward by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and it was passed as part of a larger block, according to chairwoman Karla Kozakevich.
She said two of her ministerial meeting highlights focused on the need for stronger protection against invasive mussels and help for people unduly impacted by two-tier power rates.
On the electricity file, the RDOS after several years of efforts shifted its focus from the Energy Ministry to the new Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction.
The issue centres on people in rural areas with limited means who have no choice but to use electricity to heat their homes and pay dearly for it.
Rather than trying to convert them to natural gas at huge expense, Kozakevich’s team instead suggested the B.C. government come up with some other way to help those who need it most.
She said the minister asked for more information on the issue. A separate meeting on the poor state of rural roads also resulted in a request for more information.
Kozakevich was officially joined at the conference in Vancouver at taxpayers’ expense by chief administrative officer Bill Newell and four of eight RDOS rural directors.
Tom Siddon of Area D (Okanagan FallsKaleden) and Michael Brydon of Area F (West Bench) also joined in ministerial meetings, but were in Vancouver on other business.
George Bush of Area B (rural Cawston) and Bob Coyne of Area H (rural Princeton) did not attend the UBCM convention.