MLA Barnett calls for Property Tax Forgiveness (Small Bus/Tourism) in 2018

Editorial:

At their meeting this coming Tuesday (Sept 12th)  -- Williams Lake City Council will receive a copy of a letter, dated August 25th, from Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett to the Hon. Mike Farnworth (Minister of Public Safety/Solicitor-General) where she calls on the Provincial Government to waive 2018 property taxes from small business/tourism operators charged by the local/provincial governments

You can read the letter here.

Meanwhile, the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) has recently received funding for a "Recovery Coordinator" funded through Emergency Management BC (EMBC) reports Quesnel City Manager (CAO) Byron Johnson, in a report going to North Cariboo Joint Committee on Tuesday

However requests to fund a similiar position in the municipalities (Wells, Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House) have been put on hold for now, until EMBC determines the success of the CRD's Recovery Coordinator position.  Quesnel City Manager Byron Johnson will be asking the North Cariboo Joint Committee (Quesnel City Council/CRD Directors for Areas A, B, C and I) to endorse the following resolution:

THAT the North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee supports the City of Quesnel’s application for a Recovery Coordinator position to be funded by EMBC without delay.

AND THAT the North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee supports the concept of economic recovery efforts being managed and delivered on a sub-regional level, with significant involvement from key local stakeholders, with some coordination between all the Recovery Coordinators throughout the Cariboo

 Read CAO Johnson's report here.

Back on August 29th -- Williams Lake City Council called on the provincial/federal governments to put aside a minimum of $1 Billion dollars for wildfire recovery in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region including impacted First Nations.  Read more here

It is imperative that that "one voice" goes to Victoria from the local governments of the Cariboo-Chilcotin on the question of wildfire recovery and not 5 different voices, otherwise each will get a fraction of what is required.  While municipalities were impacted indirectly (closure of highways/wildfires in rural areas), the Electoral Areas of the Cariboo Regional District were the most impacted and why it makes the most sense to coordinate everything at the CRD Board table.  Anything less than that, the elected officials, including myself, are doing a disservice to those we collectively serve, some 62,000 residents' of the Cariboo-Chilcotin that were impacted in some measure during the 2017 Wildfires

~SF

Editor's Note -- the above editorial is my own and does not reflect the official views of the Cariboo Regional District, its' Staff/Volunteers and that of my elected position as Cariboo Regional District Electoral Area 'D' Director