BC Local Government Awareness Week 2023

From May 14-20, 2023 -- we celebrate Local Government Awareness Week, a week to celebrate the work that BC's Local Governments, both Municipal Councils' and Regional District Board of Directors', do daily, whether providing fire protection, water/sewer, street lighting right up to land use decisions that affect you on a daily basis. Our current Municipal Affairs Minister in BC is the Hon. Anne Kang who is also the MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake but we also recognize her predecessors in the Hon. Josie Osborne and the Hon. Selina Robinson - both of whom served in local government and understand the challenges of being on either a Municipal Council or Regional District Board 

For those on Municipal Councils' (Mayors'/Councillors) -- they are our neighbours, family members, etc. that are accessible and are answerable to you for all that goes right/wrong, both every day and every 4 years at the ballot box at general local elections 

For those in Rural Areas outside Municipalities (or Electoral Areas) -- you elect 1 individual, an Area Director, to represent you on a Regional District Board whose population can range from as little as 300 to as many as 8,000 people and can easily have as few as 1 or 2 unincorporated communities or as many as a dozen unincorporated communities. Each unincorporated community will have its' own challenges, concerns and desires and the Area Director's role is to understand these and advocate for them at the Regional District Board table and elsewhere on the community's behalf As an Electoral Area Director, my personal strategy is to remain as accessible as possible - whether at community events, meetings or on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) or via the traditional means - phone/email/text/in-person.

Each Regional District Area Director will decide which approach works best for them. It is also important that Area Directors' maintain excellent relationships (fellow Area Directors', RD Chair, MLA's MP's, Provincial Gov't Staff, etc) as Area Directors' don't have access to the same amount of local government staff resources that Mayors/Councillors would have access to... 

In addition -- local governments are part of political networks called Area Associations, the Union of BC Municipalities and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities The Area Associations (North Central Local Government Association, Southern Interior Local Government Association, Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments', Lower Mainland Local Government Association and finally, the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities) -- lobby for local government issues relevant to that area of the Province of BC. For the 2023-24 term - I am currently serving as the Past President of NCLGA (North Central Local Government Association). 

The NCLGA advocates for North Central Local Government priorities across a wide range of land of British Columbia -- from 100 Mile House in the south to Fort Nelson/Northern Rockies Regional Municipality in the north, Daajing Giids (Haidi-Gwaii) in the west to Valemount in the east 

The UBCM or Union of BC Municipalities lobbies the BC Government on behalf of the 190 Local Governments in BC for common local government issues 

FCM or Federation of Canadian Municipalities lobbies the Federal Government for the thousands of local governments across Canada, urban/rural and small/large 

BC Local Government Staff are also part of a separate organization called Local Government Management Association of BC or LGMA-BC who lobbies for the professional training, retention, etc. of local government managers/administrators in BC. 

As a Cariboo Regional District Electoral Area Director (and also serving on the North Central Local Government Association Board of Directors', firstly as a Director at Large since January 2019 and currently as the NCLGA Past-President until May 2024) -- I have been able to build my knowledge base, skill set and relationships over the last 8 years and a little bit to serve my Area residents' to the best of my ability at the Cariboo Regional District Board table, whether at workshops, seminars, conventions or visiting local governments' across BC (at my personal expense) or simply monitoring local government agendas and their priorities across BC, as time permits... 

While there are days of frustration (and sometimes passion getting me into trouble) -- I have enjoyed my time in local government and thankful for many mentors in local government including RDFFG Chair Lara Beckett/Vice-Chair Art Kaehn, Cariboo RD Board Chair Margo Wagner, Fraser Valley Area Director Taryn Dixon (Area H) and too many others to list.... they help with issues that I may be dealing with and I am genuinely thankful for my own Area residents' who keep me grounded and share a laugh or two and allow me to "vent" in a respectful way when I need to, in order to stay healthy... I have been (like many Area Directors in BC as well as my Cariboo RD colleagues) building my relationships with my indigenous neighbours at Xat'sull First Nation... 

While it will take many, many years to build up those relationships (and I'm sure I will stumble/fall from time to time) - I'm pleased to say that the Cariboo RD cooperates on a number of fronts with Xat'sull, whether support for Fire Protection/First Responder services from Wildwood VFD, Building Inspection, Solid Waste or contributing a small amount of money to the operation of the Xat'sull Heritage Village. I look forward to future ways to cooperate more fully with them, as appropriate... 

Also, in a special way -- I'd like to thank sincerely my Area's Alternate Director, Phyllis Webstad who also does great work with Orange Shirt Day. While extremely busy with her personal life and the work on the Orange Shirt Day Society -- she is able to fit in representing me at the Cariboo RD Board table, when necessary from time to time or simply chatting over the phone when I need advice or feedback. Especially useful when I need some advice on First Nations issues as she is a member of the Canoe/Dog Creek Band (Stswecem’c Xgat’tem) which they are one of the four Northern Secwepemc Bands -- the other three are: i) Xat'sull (Soda Creek) ii) T'exelc (Williams Lake) iii) Tsq'escenemc (Canim Lake) 

Finally - I would be remiss if I didn't thank my predecessor, Deb Bischoff, who served as the Cariboo RD Area 'D' Director from 2008-2014 and encouraged my participation in local government (at the time as a young person) whether on the Cariboo RD's Area D Advisory Planning Commission, as the Cariboo RD Area D Alternate Director from February 2013 until my election in November 2014 as the Cariboo RD Area D Director. If it wasn't for her and former Williams Lake Mayors' Rick Gibson and Scott Nelson (currently a Williams Lake City Councillor), I probably wouldn't be elected now... 

Let's recognize all of the elected officials, local government staff and many others that make local governments tick in BC... you are all appreciated for what you bring to the table and please keep up the good work for the residents' of BC... 

Finally - I will review this week the roles of a Municipal Council, Regional District Board of Directors' and Improvement District Board of Trustees, starting on Tuesday!