UBCM becomes active in Provincial Election

Last week - the Union of BC Municipalities or UBCM (which includes BC's 27 Regional Districts) put out a position paper to BC's Political Parties on their wish list.  You can read it here

According to UBCM's website, the document will:

Building Tomorrow Together sets out a framework for discussion between local government and the provincial government to address the broad needs of BC communities. The document outlines five key priorities:

sound governance
local government finance
infrastructure
economic development
environmental stewardship

What the Candidates Say

UBCM has posed questions around the five key priorities to the main parties contesting the provincial election. The responses from the parties will be posted to this webpage as they are received on an issue and party basis so that each party's approach to working with local government may be compared.
In the coming weeks, UBCM will also undertake an outreach campaign to raise individual candidates' awareness of the high level priorities of BC local governments.

British Columbia's local governments are committed to building a better tomorrow, and stand ready to work with the next provincial government.

Quesnel Mayor (and UBCM President) Mary Sjostrom also says:

"Local government plays a huge role, because we deliver all the core services," says Sjostrom, "so we felt that an election is always a great time to have a conversation, as well as create awareness with the electorate about what local government is all about."

She says the top five priorities for UBCM include governance, finance, infrastructure, economic development and the environment. She hopes municipalities will use these priorities during local forums and debates during the 2013 provincial election campaign.

For myself - two of UBCM stated priorities for the provincial election I have some concern with:

1) Local Gov't Finance - UBCM is looking for other revenue sources to lessen reliance on property taxation.  While I agree with this goal in principle - one thing that lessen the load on residential property owners is the "damn the torpedoes" approach by some local governments to immediate take on programs previously offered by Victoria/Ottawa without thinking about the consequences to local taxpayers....

2) Economic Development - UBCM is looking for political parties to speak on what policies they advocate for to speed up treaties with BC's First Nations' to get economic development happening in the roughly 200+ local governments' in BC.  While this too is a laudable goal, one court case could have a major impact on treaties.  The Supreme Court of Canada in November will hear the appeal of current Cariboo RD Area 'J' Director/Xeni Gwet'in Chief Roger William's Court Case from 2010 in regards to rights/titles in the Nemiah Valley area.  Depending on how the Supreme Court of Canada rules - it could have a drastic impact on treaty negotiations across the country

SBF