WL Council at UBCM

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

Williams Lake City Council and the Chief Administrative Officer enjoyed a productive week at the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) in Vancouver.

The convention allows local government officials to network with each, debate resolutions for submission to the provincial government, and to meet with the Premier and cabinet ministers to discuss priorities for the communities.

The City, along with the Cariboo Regional District, the Esk’etemc First nation, the City of Quesnel, and the Districts of 100 Mile and Wells were honoured with the UBCM Excellence in Partnerships Award for their work on the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School Commemorative Project.

“We were honoured to be part of the project, and we look forward to enhancing partnerships and relationships based on our work so far,” says Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook. “UBCM recognizes the importance of relationships with the province’s First Nations as well, declaring 2013 the Year of Reconciliation.”

While in Vancouver, Council met with the Premier and a number of cabinet ministers to discuss the New Prosperity mine, Cariboo Memorial Hospital capital improvements, the Community Forest application, crime reduction, aboriginal reconciliation, and grant opportunities. Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett attended the meetings as well to support the City.

Council attended a “Tools, Resources & Funding for Local Governments”, workshop, a session providing an to meet with representatives from agencies that provide tools, resources, funding or other supports that help local governments to undertake planning, projects and development.

Council attended a workshop titled “Stewardship of sustainable services, assets, and finances.” The session highlighted the benefits of asset management through practical strategies and best practices. There are benefits to taxpayers and decision makers from establishing asset information, ensuring efficient and effective management of assets from a fiscally responsible and sustainable viewpoint.

Other sessions at the convention included Exploring a BC Crime Prevention Strategy, Local Government Election Reform, and a plenary session on Strong Fiscal Futures, a presentation of the UBCM select committee on local government finance. Finance system reform is an important priority, and the report proposed a number of key directions for reform aimed at improving the way service and infrastructure are financed.

As a member of the Rural BC project steering committee, Mayor Cook was involved in three presentations: to the premier, cabinet’s rural caucus, and at a clinic for delegates to advance a rural development strategy. The Rural BC project is a focused strategy to assist all levels of government deal with the complex social and economical recovery for regions affected by the forest industry and other sectors, increasing public awareness of the issues rural BC communities are facing in a constructive and political non-partisan manner and debate what is required to meet the challenges faced by rural BC communities.

“Members of the steering committee and other rural elected officials were pleased to hear the Premier speak about the importance of rural British Columbia in her speech to delegates,” says Mayor Cook.

Mayor Cook gave a presentation to the Mid-Sized Community Forum delegates, which was an opportunity to emphasize the resilience of Williams Lake, most recently during the economic downturn.

Mayor Cook also attended the fourth meeting of the BC Mayors Caucus, with 124 mayors attending to share best practices, and to speak to the provincial government with a unified voice when it comes to municipal priorities.

The City’s two resolutions, concerning genetically modified organisms and prolific offenders, did not make it to the convention floor due to time constraints, but have been referred to the UBCM Resolutions Committee for consideration.

“As always, this year’s UBCM convention was an excellent opportunity to highlight Williams Lake and to make sure our priorities are heard by the provincial government,” Mayor Cook says. “We look forward to working with all levels of government to moving our community forward.”