"Stronger Tomorrow, Starting Today"

The BC Business Council (Business Council) released a report today entitled "Stronger Tomorrow, Starting Today".  

The BC Building Council, formed in 1966, has a mission of "provide timely and exceptional public-policy research and advocacy on issues that enhance B.C.’s competitiveness and prosperity"

In the report, the Business Council categorizes its' recommendations as:

* Spur Economic Recovery - Starting Today

* Improve Conditions for Hiring/Private Sector Investment

* Empower People, Talent and Skills

* Accelerate Homegrown Innovation
* Make the World Cleaner and Protect the Environment

From a local government perspective -- while the call to reform the property tax system, to which UBCM/Union of BC Municipalities has long called for this to happen along with financial supports for local governments, both from the Province of BC and the Government of Canada, would be welcomed.  

The call to establish a Municipal Planning Act in BC to allow the Provincial Cabinet to override zoning/land use decisions of the local municipal council or regional district board, if in the Provincial Interest, similar to legislation in Alberta and Ontario would be strongly rejected by the BC Local Government community and rightly rejected by the Provincial Government.  Note -- BC had this in rural unincorporated communities before 1967 (year that Regional Districts' were established in BC to bring provincial local land use decision making from Victoria to locally elected officials) and I don't see the Province returning to that type of decision making for local governments' in British Columbia... and they have long held that local land use decisions are best made by locally elected officials who face the "judgement test" every 4 years in a local general election... 

It will be interesting to see the response of the Provincial Government, going forward, to this report of the BC Business Council, in respect of impacts on local governments in British Columbia...

The report can be read in its' entirety here

SF