Role of a Municipal Council

All this week during "Local Government Awareness Week 2024" - I will reviewing the 3 primary types of local government in BC (Municipal Council, Regional District Board of Directors' & Improvement District Board of Trustees) during 2024 Local Government Awareness Week.... starting with Municipal Councils' today...

Municipal Councils' are the governing body of an incorporated community.  This can range in population from 217 (District of Wells) up to 675,218 (City of Vancouver).  Incorporated communities can take various forms from small Villages, Districts', mid sized Towns/Cities right up to big Cities like Vancouver/Surrey.  According to CivicInfo BC -- there are 162 municipalities in British Columbia today.  It should be noted that a local government is not a true "order of government" as recognized in the Canadian Constitution but the "child of the Province or Territory" and thus a Municipal Council's powers are ones delegated by the Province or Territory to a municipality

Primary provincial legislation for Municipal Councils' is the Community Charter.  Legislation for the Charter was passed in the BC Legislature back in 2004.  Before then, Regional Districts/Municipal Councils' shared both the former Municipal Act and current Local Government Act before the Charter was passed in 2004. However, there are certain aspect of the Local Government Act that apply to both a Municipal Council and Regional District Board, depending on the topic.  Aspects of Land Use Decision Making and Local Elections/By-Elections and Referenda -- apply to both a Municipal Council/RD Board via the Local Government Act.  Municipal Councils', through the Charter, have what is called "natural person powers" which allows them to respond much more quickly to the general needs of an incorporated community

The primary role of a Municipal Council is outlined here but generally speaking - a Municipal Council looks out for the needs of its' community and advocates for the same to the provincial/federal governments & others or provides for local services desirable for that incorporated community

Distinct roles on a Municipal Council:

a) Mayor -- CEO/Head of Municipality. Role defined at Section 116 of the Charter.  View here

b) Councillor -- Member of a Municipal Council.  Number of Councillors can range from 4 to as many as 10, depending on size of a Municipal Council.  Role definition can be viewed here

c) Chief Administrative Officer (also known sometimes as City Manager or Administrator) -- Always granted, through an Officer's Bylaw, the primary responsibility to administer the operations of a Municipality, based on passed Council policies or Resolutions of a Council and serves as its' Chief Policy Advisor..  In the typical Council-CAO system of local government, Local Government Staff work for the CAO directly and the CAO works for Council as a whole as its' "sole employee"

Also, a Municipality is required by the Charter to have a Corporate Administrator and Financial Administrator (typically known as the Corporate Officer and Chief Financial Officer).  These statutory positions also apply to Regional Districts'.  More on this here

Some of the common challenges facing a Municipal Council in BC include:

a) Sustainable Infrastructure (sidewalks, water/sewer, etc)
b) Sustainable Staffing
c) Sustainable Finances
d) Healthy Local Economy/Jobs

e) Housing

Many BC Municipal Councils' lobby for the above noted items via their local Area Association (NCLGA, SILGA, AKBLG, LMLGA or AVICC); UBCM/Union of BC Municipalities and FCM/Federation of Canadian Municipalities.  Almost every local municipal council in BC is a member of an Area Association, UBCM or FCM...

In addition to that - Municipal Councils, via the Mayor, maintain healthy/productive relationships with their local MLA or Member of Legislative Assembly & MP or Member of Parliament to lobby for issues that are either provincial or federal in nature...

Also - Members of a Municipal Council (Mayor/Councillors') participate in annual training sessions at their local Area Associations, UBCM, FCM or LGLA/Local Government Leadership Academy to stay up to date on trends in local governments.  Links to Training Materials:

a) UBCM -- https://www.ubcm.ca/EN/main/convention/past-conventions.html
b) FCM -- https://fcm.ca/en/resources
c) LGLA -- https://lgla.ca/resources/

This is not any different from professional development that local government staff undertake on an annual basis to stay current in their profession via courses/seminars offered through the Local Government Management Association or their professional associations' ... 

More on things that face a Municipal Council on a yearly basis can be viewed at:

1) UBCM Fact Sheets - click here (Updated in Fall 2018)
2) Local Government in BC - click here.  Written by Robert Fish & Eric Clemens with the last update in 2008.  Mr. Clemens sadly passed away in 2008

3) Community Charter -- click here

Finally - it is said that local government is the closest to the people and the easiest to access (Mayor/Councillors) as they are members of the general community as well... and while they don't have the easiest job to make decisions that is bound to upset somebody -- it is fair to say that they try their level best, based on the information they have at hand and how they personally feel on an issue and vote accordingly.

And at the end of the day -- Mayors' and Councillors' have to face the electorate every 4 years in a "job performance review", if they seek re-election, to see if they are worthy to continue on... and the electorate is always correct when they vote in general local elections' (even if the elected officials don't agree personally with the decision at election time) and I'm sure people generally thank the 162 Municipal Councils' in BC and the job they do year round, even if people may disagree respectfully with their decisions, from time to time...

Tomorrow: I will review Regional Districts' and the role (sometimes misunderstood) they play in the unincorporated communities they represent, outside of Municipalities and their Municipal Councils'...

SF

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!