What's in a Name?

When we publish our annual ranking of the Best Cities for Work in B.C., it's not unusual to receive the odd objection—typically that a city that wasn't included should have been, or one that was should have finished higher. In the 2019 instalment, published in the December/january issue, several communities joined the Best Cities ranks, resulting in a different complaint.

Sechelt resident Jeri Patterson wrote that it shouldn't be on the list, where it ranked 12th, because it is not a city but a municipal district, adding: “And for many of us that call Sechelt `home,' we do not want to live in a `City'!”

Patterson is right, says Kamloops city planning assistant and geographer Andrew Macaulay, who compiled the ranking. Not only is Sechelt not a city as defined in the B.C. Local Government Act, Macaulay explains, but every place on the list is also legally considered a municipality under the act and by Statistics Canada. “Best Municipalities for Work” just doesn't have the same ring to it.