“Members of the Board, Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, today, I have the distinct pleasure of reviewing the Cariboo Regional District’s main accomplishments and successes for 2010. Looking back over the past year, our region can be proud of its achievements. 2010 has truly seen many successes for the CRD and most importantly, its residents.
The year started with a flurry of activity in January. On January 22, 2010 the Cariboo Regional District participated in the handing over ceremony becoming the Forest Capital of Canada for 2010/2011. During this same time we held our annual Town Hall meetings throughout the electoral areas and the member municipalities, and we welcomed the 2010 Olympic Torch to the Cariboo. The communities of Lone Butte, 108 Mile Ranch, Lac La Hache, 150 Mile House, and Kersley were named as Route Community stops while 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, and Quesnel were named host to Celebration Stops.
As February drew near, the CRD finalized plans to use the 2010 Olympic Games as the launch to its Forest Capital of Canada campaign by participating in BC Street. BC Street, an 18,000 square foot venue, showcased seven major regions of the province at the Richmond Olympic O Zone – a 66 acre celebration site. Celebrating its recent designation as the 2010/11 Forest Capital of Canada, the CRD partnered with the CCCTA to promote and celebrate all of the recreational benefits our natural environment provides including, eco-tourism and wilderness adventure. By the end of the Olympic Games, 475,000 spectators had visited the pavilion and an estimated 3.4 billion people either heard, read or saw a feature on BC Street worldwide. For this effort the CRD was acknowledged with awards throughout the year including;
• 2010 WoodWORKS! – Community Leader Award;
• 2010 Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association – Best Tourism Marketing Initiative;
• 2010 Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Community Excellence Award – Tourism Partnerships Honourable Mention;
• And the 2010 Williams Lake Chamber of Commerce Newsmaker of the Year Award.
As the south Cariboo representative on the Forest Capital of Canada committee, I am truly looking forward to some of the projects we have in store for 2011 to help promote the forest industries in a holistic approach.
In August and September, our forests were ravaged by wildfires in many areas of the Chilcotin, north Cariboo and portions of the central Cariboo. Our Emergency Operations (EOC) team jumped quickly into action, and working with our provincial emergency program officials, municipalities, our first nation’s partners and many affiliated agencies such as the RCMP, the Emergency Social Service (ESS) teams from Quesnel, 100 Mile House and Williams Lake, we were able to help protect our residents. The area had not seen fires of this magnitude in a very long time. To give you an idea of just how big these events were;
• A total of 750 Evacuees were registered with Williams Lake ESS;
• 186 residents registered with Quesnel ESS;
• Between 1,500 – 2,000 residents were on evacuation alert during the height of the fire events;
• The Bull Canyon Complex experienced 6 alerts and 2 orders between August 1 – 24;
• The Heckman Pass fires saw 2 evacuation orders and 4 alerts between August 16 to 19;
• The Pelican Complex fires caused 6 orders and 8 alerts between August 8 to 27;
• The Place Complex (Canoe/Dog Creek First Nation) experienced 1 order and 3 alerts;
• The Tsacha Lake fire saw 5 orders and 4 alerts between August 13 to September 2;
• And the massive Meldrum Twan Complex required 15 evacuation orders and 18 alerts;
• In total, the CRD’s EOC enacted 31 Evacuation Orders and another 43 evacuation alerts between
July 28 – September 2;
Overall, the CRD’s EOC and all the agencies that worked together to respond to the wildfires of 2010 can be proud of the services that were provided to our residents in a time of need.
In May of 2010, the CRD Directors travelled to Smithers for the annual North Central Local Government Association AGM and conference. The conference was an extremely successful event for the CRD and the resolutions it put forward to the membership were all endorsed. For the second consecutive year, the Cariboo Regional District was awarded with the Gold Star Award, this year for its “Palliative Care in British Columbia” resolution.
During the conference, the CRD was also honoured with an award as part of the first annual Measuring up the North Accessibility Awards of Excellence. In the category of Over 5,000 Population, the CRD was awarded Honourable Mention for its approach to wheel chair tourism and trails projects, while Horsefly received Honourable Mention in the Under 5,000 category. In 2010, through the Towns for Tomorrow funding, the CRD was able to open accessible Trails at the Sisters Creek Recreation site in Kersley, Cottonwood Historic Site, Horsefly, and Sepa Lake at the 108 Mile Ranch.
In September 2010, the CRD continued its winning ways at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities Conference in Whistler. The Regional District received the following honours;
• Community Leader Award for 2010 as presented by WoodWORKS! BC for the construction of the 100 Mile House Branch Library;
• An Outstanding leadership and achievement Award in community wildfire prevention presented by the Minister of Forests and Range, the Honourable Pat Bell;
• Community Excellence Awards Honourable Mention in the category of Tourism Partnerships for the 2010 Olympic Games BC Street Campaign;
• And again, our Palliative Care earned its second Gold Star award for the best crafted resolution of 2010.
We also had a number of successful resolutions that were voted on by the provincial UBCM membership and we met with over eight different provincial ministers and their staff to lobby for issues that are relevant to residents of the Cariboo Chilcotin. We will continue to follow up with these issues, and will collaborate with our regions’ provincial MLAs and federal MPs to ensure the people of the CRD have a voice in Victoria and Ottawa.
Speaking of the federal and provincial governments, in 2010, the CRD successfully applied to a number of different provincial and federal funding programs such as the Community Works Fund, the Towns for Tomorrow program, Northern Development Initiative Trust, the Community Tourism Opportunities program and UBCM’s Fuel mitigation fund. To give you an example, for our water and sewer systems, and fuel management projects we received through these programs almost $2.6 million. These funds went directly back into and benefitted our communities throughout the region.
I often hear Directors, our municipalities, the media and the general public express concern that we never seem to accomplish anything. Part of the reason for this report is to remind you of the major accomplishments this past year, and to compliment you on your successes.
Creating new partnerships, enhancing services, undertaking capital projects, informing the public and responding to residents’ needs is what building this region is all about. Our organization will continue to respond to the community and residents’ needs thereby achieving our goal of Building Communities Together.
I would like to thank all the Board members and staff for your strong support during 2010 and look forward to working with each and every one of you in the upcoming year. Thank you.”
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