Summerland puts forward five SILGA resolutions
Local government has an important voice in federal and provincial policymaking through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).
Both organizations are directed by elected local representatives and actively deal with federal and provincial governments on matters of local importance.
Resolutions debated and passed at FCM and UBCM conventions provide the main opportunity for local governments of all sizes to express concerns, share experiences, and take a united position.
Resolutions have a better chance of being endorsed by FCM and UBCM delegates if they are first approved at the regional level.
For Okanagan communities, the process begins at the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) annual convention.
Summerland Council is putting forward five resolutions for debate at this year’s SILGA convention, which is being held in Kamloops from April 30 to May 3. They include:
Grant processing timelines
Local governments are required to meet tight deadlines when applying for provincial and federal grants but are then left waiting indefinitely for adjudication and approval, affecting our ability to plan with certainty and financial accuracy. We are therefore asking senior levels of government to establish and adhere to processing timelines for all their grant programs.
Referendum questions
Referendum ballots in the form of a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question can sometimes be too restrictive, create interpretation challenges, discourage compromise and polarise public debate. We are therefore putting forward a resolution to ask the provincial government to amend the Local Government Act to allow alternative ballot options beyond a binary choice.
Servicing ALR properties
While the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) plays a critical role in ensuring food security for all BC residents, the cost of servicing farm land falls unfairly on residential taxpayers within agricultural communities such as Summerland. Distances between agricultural parcels makes the cost of maintaining infrastructure to those properties disproportionately expensive and it cannot be recovered from farm-class property taxes.
We are therefore putting forward a motion for the UBCM to work with the provincial government to develop a program to help local governments adequately service ALR lands.
One Hectare Limit for Septic
The provincial government requires a minimum of one hectare of land for installing a septic field, an arbitrary number that doesn’t necessarily relate to the ability of a location to support a septic system. We are asking the provincial government to review and implement a new policy concerning where septic fields may be located.
Produce stickers in organic composting facilities
The federal and provincial governments together with local governments and First Nations have recently invested $30M to keep organic waste out of landfills and increase composting capacity in BC yet the composting process is hindered by non-biodegradable plastic fruit and vegetable stickers that inevitably end up in curbside collection bins.
We are asking senior governments to ban the use of non-biodegradable produce stickers and approve alternative methods for displaying price codes.
All resolutions approved at the SILGA convention will be automatically submitted to the UBCM convention in September for consideration at the provincial level. For resolutions not approved by SILGA delegates, municipal councils have the option of submitting them directly to UBCM.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -Pius Suter and Dakota Joshua scored 12 seconds apart in the third period and the Vancouver Canucks stormed back for a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of their firstround playoff series Sunday night.
Joshua had two goals and an assist, Elias Lindholm also scored and Thatcher Demko stopped 20 shots for Vancouver, the Pacific Division champion which hosted a playoff game for the first time since 2015.
“We’ve been talking about being in one-goal games the whole season for these moments, and I love that there was zero panic today, hardly any at all,” Canucks forward J.T. Miller said. “We just stayed with it.”
Jason Zucker and Ryan O’Reilly scored for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 17 saves.
Game 2 goes tonight in Vancouver. The Canucks were trailing 2-1 when Suter tied it 8:59 into the third. Quin Hughes took a pass from Brock Boeser and blasted a shot that deflected off Suter and past Saros from just inside the blue line.
Just 12 seconds later, Lindholm checked Jeremy Lauzon behind the Predators’ net and shook him off the puck. Conor Garland picked it up and flicked it to Joshua, who sent it in from the top of the crease to put Vancouver up 3-2.
“I’ll never forget it,” Joshua said of his goal.
“And it makes you want to keep doing it.”
Demko preserved the one-goal advantage with a series of late stops, including one on Roman Josi with 1:49 left.
The Predators pulled Saros and Joshua took advantage, scoring his second goal of the night into an empty net with 1:28 remaining to seal the win.
“I think we just stayed patient the entire game and didn’t really push too hard or give anything up when we were down going into the third,” said Hughes, who had two assists. “We got our looks and we knew we were going to get our looks.”
Nashville went 1 for 4 on the power play, while Vancouver was 0 for 3.
“Every power play that you don’t score on is a missed opportunity,” Zucker said. “I thought it was nice to get that one. (O’Reilly) and those guys made some great plays there and I thought our (penalty kill) was really good tonight.”
Nashville opened the scoring 15:15 in when Zucker took a pass from Josi and sent a shot through traffic from the top of the faceoff circle and beat Demko stick side.
Lindholm tied it 47 seconds into the second by sending a long wrist shot past Saros.