WL Committee of the Whole Proceedings - July 15th

Delegations:

1) Dr. Elmer Thiessen (Chair, Water/Waste Water Advisory Committee) - Dr. Thiessen formally presented the Committee's report to Council and undertook to answer Councils' questions' and where he couldn't answer a question, members of the Water/Waste Water Advisory Committee helped answer Councils' questions. Staff to bring back a report to implement all recommendations from the Water/Waste Water Advisory Committee in 60 Days


2) Gian Sandhu / Rick Jones from Jackpine Forest Products came before the Committee to request that Council considered implementing a tax-exemption zone for properties owned by Jackpine for future expansion over a 5-year period. Council, generally speaking, was prepared to favourably consider the request. Staff requested to bring forward a report at the next Committee of the Whole with Financial Implications on implementing Mssrs. Jones and Sandhu's request.

Business:

1) Council agreed to deny request of Williams Lake Curling Club for waiving Water/Sewer Fees during the summer as it may set a dangerous precedent for other non-profit clubs. Council also agreed to send an application form to the WL Curling Club to apply for a Grant-in-Aide for 2009 Budget year.

2) Council adopted all Staff Recommendations concerning An Affordable Housing Policy in Williams Lake. Staff to work on Recommendations flowing from their report on this subject

3) Council agreed to waive its' Strata Policy, following a request from Pal Nijjar for his property at 1000 Maple Street

4) Letter from Tyler Bronowski (request to turn former Poplar Glade property into a bike park) to be referred to Central Cariboo Recreation Commission for consideration

Sub-Regional Services and Muncipalities/Regional Districts

For the last 2 years, a group called the Quesnel Technics Club (local gymnastics club) has sought the help of the North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee or NCJPC for a new building. The NCJPC membership consists of the CRD (Cariboo Regional District) Directors' for Areas A, B, C and I as well as the entire Quesnel Council. The NCJPC passed a resolution, in October of 2006, to work jointly (CRD + City of Quesnel) to come up with $1,000,000 of capital funding for a new building for the Quesnel Technics Club. This particular issue has been an irritant between the CRD Northern Directors' and Quesnel City Council. The particular issue has been that the City of Quesnel has found its' $500,000 and wants the CRD to do the same without using money inside of the NCRP (North Cariboo Recreation and Parks) Function, which is funded on a 70-30 (City of Quesnel - CRD) split. Now, the CRD Northern Directors' wanted the City of Quesnel to have Quesnel Technics Club funding through NCRP. Quesnel Council considered the request at their Committee of the Whole meeting on June 23rd and made a motion to recommend to Quesnel Council that the request of the CRD Northern Directors on this subject be rejected. Quesnel Council met on July 14th to adopt their motion from their June 23rd Committee of the Whole meeting. Mayor Bello then informed his Council of a conversation he had with Quesnel City Manager Charles Hamilton and CRD Directors Ted Armstrong (Area 'A') and Ronda Wilkins (Area 'C'). Both Directors Armstrong and Wilkins indicated to Mayor Bello and Mr. Hamilton their willingness to increase the CRD's contribution from $500,000 to $750,000 provided that the Quesnel Technics Club was funded through NCRP. Councillors' Thapar and Paull suggested that Council reject the new offer to which Quesnel Council agreed to turn down the request, on the basis that it wasn't in the best interest of Quesnel taxpayers'.

I think sometimes municipal politicians, when discussing funding of sub-regional services, like Recreation, tend to put the "me-first" attitude, rather than the "region first" attitude when it comes to Sub-Regional Services. Having the "region-first" attitude when it comes to Recreation Budgets truly serves both the taxpayers' interest, rather than rural/urban politicians fighting each other over who funds what. I would obviously encourage, strongly, the City of Quesnel Council members to keep this in mind when considered future Sub-Regional Recreation Budgets with the rural CRD Northern Directors. Playing petty politics on this issue really does a disservice to the taxpayers' in both the City of Quesnel and to those who reside in Electoral Areas A, B, C, and I.

CFIB Report - BC Municipal Government Spending

Hello all:

Earlier this week, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a report on "out-of-control" spending by BC local governments. In this report, they suggest that spending by municipal governments is double that of inflation and population growth. Now, I know my fellow "blogger" Langley Township Councillor Jordan Bateman reads my blog regularly and is likely to agree with me that municipal government spending isn't really out of control as opposed to municipal governments spending money on services/infrastructure that residents want. Here in Williams Lake, RCMP costs cover about 30% of the City of Williams Lake's budget and the rest goes towards other services that people expect including Recreation Services, improvements to infrastructure, and so on. While I appreciate the opinion of the CFIB, I don't think they appreciate the voters' appetite for basic services (fire, police, etc) in their local communities. I'm sure Councillor Bateman has been approached by Langley Township residents for many requests, but as the old saying goes, "There is one taxpayer and he/she has so much money to give to governments". The challenge here is how to wean municipal governments off of relying on property taxes for a substantive majority of their budgets. This is especially true in Metro Vancouver communities where demand for services including transit is high.

Another Steve Rant - Various Political Events

Last night, City Council met and with Councillors Jon Wolbers (CRD Chair), Surinder Rathor, Tom Barr at FCM (Federation of Canadian Muncipalities) in Quebec City and Councillor Judy O'Neill in the Dominican Republic representing the City of Williams Lake, the meeting adjourned just past 8pm due to a lack of quorum (Mayor Nelson and Councillors Paul French/Ed Mead in attendance). Several delegations were in attendance including Audrey MacLise (WL Seniors Advisory Council) asking Council to make Williams Lake a "Age Friendly Community" along with making June 7th Access Awareness Day. Members of WL Council in attendance expressing their support for this and will formally deal with this and other items on the May 27th Agenda at a future date. Council members present were also introduced to the WL Stampede Queen contestants (3).

Recently, Mayor Nelson floated an idea that would have seen the Carbon Tax portion of the City's fuel purchases would be placed into a seperate account to demonstrate to the Provincial Government the actual impact on local government budgets. After having a "frank" phone call with the Provincial Minister of Finance (Hon. Carole Taylor), Mayor Nelson nixed the idea as he said that Victoria would not be moved to give considerations to Northern Communities with respect to the Carbon Tax. On May 26th, Charlie Wyse (NDP MLA for Cariboo-South) issued a press release and was quoted on the radio with the following:

1) We (NDP MLA's Bob Simpson + Charlie Wyse) will continue to stand up for northern communities with respect to the Carbon Tax after the astonishing flip-flop by Mayor Scott Nelson

I must say that it is rich for the NDP to accuse a BC-Liberal friendly Mayor of Williams Lake of a flip-flop on this issue. In this case, Mayor Nelson had an idea, had the support of CRD Chair Jon Wolbers and Mayor Nate Bello, and had a discussion with the Minister of Finance (Hon. Carole Taylor) and decided that it was not in the public interest to continue with this idea. Let's compare to this to the NDP record which consisted of flip-flops and picking fights with others, like Ottawa, over Nanoose Bay, which ended up costing this province money for this land. Or how about telling local governments in 1996, after the 1996 Provincial General Election, that there was no way local governments were going to lose their grants and then in the 1997 Budget, those local government grants were completely chopped away, causing local governments to scramble to ensure their budgets remained balanced, which in turn, caused local governments to raise taxes. Besides which, Mayor Nelson has a strong record of standing up for his community, even at the expense of making Victoria not happy with some of his stances of local issues. I'll be writing a "letter-to-the-editor" on this topic for publication, I hope, by next week.

Now, onto matters in Quesnel which deserve comment from me. Recently, Quesnel Council confirmed/re-confirmed its' decision with respect to the local Gymnastics group giving $500,000 to them and calling/re-calling on the CRD Northern Directors' to do the same. Quesnel Council has suggested that a motion from the Fall of 2007 suggested that the Northern Joint Committee agreed to contribute $500,000 from both City of Quesnel and the Cariboo Regional District to the Quesnel Technics Group (local Gymnastics club). However, the actual wording is "jointly work together to raise $1,000,000". However in the meantime, Director Ted Armstrong has proposed that this item be funded through the local Sub-Regional Recreation Budget. The City of Quesnel has rejected this idea on the basis that it would cost City of Quesnel taxpayers' more than it would cost Quesnel Rural Taxpayers'. I believe this idea is worth of support on the basis that gymnastics falls, in my opinion, under the guise of recreation. Soccer should also be considered for funding underneath the Sub-Regional Recreation Function. In the meantime, the battle continues. I would urge Quesnel Council to consider the regional aspect when taking stands on this issues.

That's it for now - I promise to continually update this blog as often as I can

Steve

Lack of Posts since November of 2007

As was the case with the blog of the CAO (Administrator) for the City of Williams Lake, I apologize for the lack of posts since November of last year. I admit I've gotten a little lazy, but I'm back and I promise to do better with my posts.

My thanks to the City of Quesnel's Communication Supervisor - Matt Wood for reminding me to update my blog

Steve's Political Rant #4

1) City of Quesnel Long-Term Debt

Over the last number of years, the City of Quesnel has borrowed money for various projects supported by residents including City Hall, the Johnston Bridge, the local Soccer Facility with a total of $11 million for these projects. Now, Quesnel Council is looking into investing taxpayers dollars for 2 other projects: 1) Quesnel Museum and 2) Multi-Centre. While the Multi-Centre has been discussion at length for some time, the Museum project is a relatively new project being discussed publicly, for funding via long-term debt as 1 option for funding. The Multi-Centre referendum is slated to proceed in May of 2008. My concern is that given the current economic climate, now may not be the time to go further in long-term debt even though, the Multi-Centre & Quesnel Museum are most worthy of taxpayer support. I hope that taxpayers' in Quesnel will consider this going forward from now until the local goverment election in November of 2008. I can confirm that the City of Quesnel along with other muncipal gov'ts do have a formula that they can not exceed and it is: No more then 25% of a local government revenue can go towards payment of long-term debt. If a local government exceeds this formula, then the appropriate loan authorization by-law will not be approved by Victoria.

2) Electoral Boundary Commission Act (Amendment Act), 2007

Hon. Mike DeJong (Government House Leader + Minister of Aboriginal Affairs) informed the House that this Bill won't proceed unless there is consensus on both sides to move it forward. The NDP, at this time, don't support this Bill. This Bill will die as the House will rise for its' Christmas break at 6:30pm tonight (Thursday, November 29th, 2007). This will be a shame, of course, as the interim report of the Electoral Boundary Commission was decried by the NDP as unacceptable for rural people and their right to representation in the Legislature. It appears that the present ridings are here to stay for the immediate future including the next provincial election of 2009.

CRD Board - Meeting Highlights - November 9th, 2007

Delegations:

1) Gord Rattray from the Barkerville Heritage Trust appeared before the Board to present information on options for a Barkerville Circle Tour Connector Route. The Board ultimately resolved to support the Purden Lake Route.

2) Ken Day from the UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest and Cathy Koot, Research Coordinator
from the Alex Fraser Research Forest, gave the CRD Board an overview of the UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest sites and programs. UBC has two research sites in the Cariboo. The Gavin Lake site, 6,315 hectares, is adjacent to Beaver Valley near Quesnel Lake and the Knife Creek site, 3,487 hectares, is near 150 Mile House.

Business:

1) The Cariboo Regional District, the City of Williams Lake and the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council (NStQ) are hosting a Community to Community (C2C) workshop on December 5 and 6, 2007 in Williams Lake. The C2C forums provide elected official and staff opportunities to build
partnerships and share best practices. Funding for the forums is provided by UBCM.

2) The Regional District Board discussed the dramatic increase in wood waste volumes in its landfill sites throughout the Cariboo Chilcotin resulting from the clean-up of beetle killed
trees. For example, the Sheridan Lake landfill site has experienced significant increases over the past year. In 2006, a total of 8,638 cubic metres of wood waste accumulated, increasing to 28,000 cubic metres in 2007. This resulted in disposal costs of $51,401 and $172,550 respectively. CRD Chair Jon Wolbers and staff have requested a meeting with the Ministers of Environment and Forestry & Range at the earliest opportunity to discuss financial assistance to deal with the inflow of wood waste resulting from the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic. During that meeting, the CRD will also request that the Ministries relax environmental regulations to allow burning of wood waste on a more frequent basis.

WL Council - Meeting Highlights - Nov 6/07

Delegations:

1) Bruce Young from Jack Gawthorn Memorial Dog Sled Race encouraged Council to participate in this race. Mayors Nelson, Bello and Vermette along with CRD Chair J. Wolbers will be participating in this race

Business:

1) Fee-for-Service for '08 - A total of $145,000 was handed out for Fee-for-Service for different organizations in Williams Lake for 2008

2) Council will forward a cheque of rougly $4300 to the CRD to support their Promotional Tourism DVD. Money to come for Round 2 of the UBCM Community Tourism Funding

3) Final approval was also given to amend the Official Community Plan and Zoning Amendment
Bylaws for the Pioneer Family Partnership project.

Steven's Political Rant #3

1) The NDP and the BC Legislature Speaker

Earlier this week, the House Speaker (Hon. Bill Barisoff) ruled that Carole James's Private Member Bill M-214 (Minimum Wage Fairness Act, 2007) was out of order on the basis that it infringed on the Crown Prerogative respecting creation of new programs or increased expenditures on the Provincial Treasury and only the Governing Party, at present - the BC Liberals' can introduce such a Bill upon the recommendation of the Lt-Governor to the Legislature. Hours later, BC New Democrats issued a press release called "B.C. Liberals Cut Off Minimum Wage Debate".

However, if one looks at Hansard, on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 during the morning sitting of the House. The Government House Leader (Hon. Mike DeJong), nor any other member (NDP/BC Liberal) raised a point of order re: M-214. The Speaker, on his own initiative, ruled Bill M-214 out of order. It is deeply disheartening that the NDP would choose to politicize the Speaker's decision as one based on politics, rather than one based upon a review of the bill and whether or not the bill conforms to the rules of the House. Standing Order #9 in part says:

"No decision shall be subject to an appeal to the House.

Which, in English, means that when a ruling by the Speaker is made, it is final and that members should move on. The Speaker is a independent servant of the House and in the case of Bill M-214, the Speaker exercised his authority in a fair way and the NDP shouldn't pout like a little child because it didn't get its' way. The Office of the Speaker must, at all times, remain above political rhetoric to ensure that all members are treated fairly and further ensure that the Speaker is not perceived to be favouring either the Government or Opposition side of the House.
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October 23rd, 2007 Meeting of North Cariboo Joint Planning Committee:

During this meeting, the Gary Young report was discussed by the CRD Directors' for Areas A, B, C and I and Quesnel City Council. During the meeting, Mayor Bello suggested that all recreational facilities such as parks, trails, etc should be equally paid for by all taxpayers - rural and city.

The part I find most unfortunate is that Mayor Bello likes to do double-speak. He successfully had himself appointed as Quesnel Council's rep. to the CRD Board and continues to pontificate to the CRD Northern Directors' as to what they should be paying for. Certainly, I would strongly encourage him to follow the lead of WL Council.

He needs to consult with CRD Directors prior to creation of new services that may be regional in nature and other services that benefit all residents' (rural and city) and do it with an air of respect that makes it clear that he won't be directing CRD Directors' as to what they should be paying for and how much and that he seeks to have a harmonious relationship with his CRD Director counterparts. The Cariboo Regional District has gone to great lengths and then some to help out Quesnel Council with their fiscal challenges in regards to Quesnel services that are used by regional residents like:

1) Soccer
2) Airport
3) Transit

I would like to think that he should be grateful, given the economic conditions of the region. In fact, it was commented at this meeting that several of the new bylaws that would allow for contributions from rural taxpayers' to the City of Quesnel for their Airport, Transit and Soccer are in danger of being defeated. But, the actions of Mayor Bello are a long line of actions since 2004 and if wants a harmonious relationship with Directors Armstrong, Falloon, Wilkins and Glassford, then I would suggest that he seek the advice of Mayor Nelson and take his advice when he seeks it. CRD Directors in the Central Region (Zacharias, Dickey, Barnett, Bracewell and Mumford) have consented to a contribution towards the operation of the Cariboo Chilcotin Museum among other areas that are of concern between CRD Directors' for Areas D, E, F, J, K and the City of Williams Lake Council. I believe that the relationship between the CRD Central Directors and the City of Williams Lake Council is one that Quesnel Council must emulate in order to deliver high quality services in the North Cariboo. This can be done by rolling up the shelves and not pontificating to CRD Directors' but working in partnership with them for the betterment of all residents, rural and urban.

WL Council Highlights - October 16th

Public Hearing at 6:30pm :

Bylaws for WL Seniors Village & Pioneer Family Land Partnership were considered

1 person spoke in favour of rezoning & OCP amendment bylaws for WL Seniors' Village and 1 person spoke about Rezoning & OCP Amendment bylaws for Pioneer Family Land Partnership re: Traffic Flow on Highway 20 & South Lakeside Drive and Infrastructure concerns

All bylaws that were before the Public Hearing were accordingly referred back to the Council Meeting later on for consideration of 3rd Reading.

Meeting adjourned at 7:07pm

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Council Meeting - 7:30pm

Delegates:

1) WL RCMP Detachment Commander, Staff-Sgt. Grant Martin, discussed Crime Stats from Jan.1 - Oct. 15

2) Kevin Brown presented overview for Barkerville Circle Tour. His report was referred to Council's Committee of the Whole for further consideration

3) Councillor Mead gave an overview of his trip to China with Mayor Nelson. His Council report was referred to the Economic Development Portfolio for further consideration

Business:

1) Bylaw #'s: 2007, 2021 (Pioneer) and 2032, 2034 (WL Seniors' Village) were all given 3rd Reading. Bylaws #'s 2032, 2034 were then adopted. Bylaws 2007 and 2021 were referred to the Ministry of Transportation for their approval prior to adoption

2) October 2007 has been proclaimed as Foster Family Month, Community Living Month and Autism Awareness Month

3) Council approved the tender for the purchase of four new GMC ¾ ton pick‐up trucks at a cost of $122,223 to Cariboo GM.

4) In September, Mayor Nelson and CAO Alberto DeFeo had the opportunity to meet with Chief Willy Alphonse and Band Councillor Heather McKenzie to discuss a number of ways to further common interests between the City and WL Indian Band. In last evening’s Council meeting, staff was directed to initiate collaboration with the Williams Lake Indian Band to address overlapping land use issues as well as water and sewer needs.

5) Council has directed Staff to prepare expressions of interest for several projects to the Federal Government Mountain Pine Beetle Community Economic Diversification Initiative. The projects include:
a) Industrial Rail Spur
b) Highway 20 Corridor Project
c) Event Centre,
d) North End Grey Water System
e) Community Forest Business Plan
f) Cariboo Economic Development Capacity
g) Stampede Park Upgrade.

CRD Board Meeting Highlights - October 12th

Cariboo-Chilcotin Hospital District Board:

Delegates: None

Business:

1) Various press releases were received from Interior Health and Northern Health

2) The CCRHD resolved to grant $140,000.00 towards the pallitive care project being run by the Quesnel & District Pallative Care Association furnishing, fixtures and finishing of the palliative care unit in Quesnel
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CRD Board of Directors' Meeting:

Delegates:

1) Bob Simpson (Cariboo-North MLA) and Charlie Wyse (Cariboo-South MLA) appeared before the Board to discuss various matters including TILMA, the Electoral Boundary Commission Report

Business:

1) Various Planning Bylaws were granted 1st and 2nd Readings and now they will be referred to the various Electoral Area APC's and Public Hearings for further consideration prior to the Board's consideration of 3rd Reading of these bylaws

2) Hennigar/Arnoldus - The Board approved a deferral of 30 days on this application, upon the recommendation of Director Ted Armstong (Area 'A' Director)

3) The Board declared November 18th to 25th, 2007 Restorative Justice Week in the Cariboo Regional District

4) The Board also declared October 15th to October 21st, 2007 Waste Reduction week in the Cariboo Regional District

5) The CRD's Library Report for 2006 was received. A copy of this report can be found at http://www.cln.bc.ca/

6) The Board resolved to pursue various funding opportunities for the Phase II project at CNC (College of New Calendonia). The money being requested is $1.2 Million

WL Council Meeting - October 2nd, 2007

Delegations:

1) Geoff Wagner, on behalf on both EPCOR and the United Way made award and monetary presentations to the local Wresting Club, individual youth and the WL Social Planning Council for various initiatives.

2) The local Conservation Council made a presentation to Council requesting the Waterwise program be funded on a "fee-for-service" basis. Council resolved to refer the issue to the 2008 Budget Process
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Business:

1) Stop signs on Soda Creek Road /Frizzi Road will be switched to "Yield" signs while a more permanent solution can be found to the traffic issue for those who want to cross the rail line from Soda Creek Road onto Frizzi Road.

2) Several Revitalization Tax Exemption applications were approved by Council. These agreements see the Municipal portion of their tax bill deferred provided that renovations are completed in a section of the downtown area that was designated by Council, earlier this year by bylaw. A reminder: the deadline to apply for this program is October 31st, 2007.

3) A letter was received from the Assitant Deputy Attorney-General regarding Council's open letter in the form of a full-page ad. The letter, in short, described the actions that the Province has taken to date and how Council can address their issues with the appropriate Federal Cabinet Minister. Mayor Nelson suggested that this letter was "fluff". Councillors Mead/Rathor along with Mayor Nelson will phone Attorney-General Wally Oppal to discuss their concerns with this letter

4) Several UBCM Awards were presented during Council's meeting.

*** A Reminder - October 16th, 2007 in Council Chambers, Public Hearings for WL Seniors' Village expansion and Pioneer Family Land Partnership re: Wal-Mart type development will start at 6:30pm. If you want to state your opposition/support of these development proposals, then please come out and do so. I'm not able to do so myself, as I'm Deputy Chair of the Advisory Planning Commission and since I spoke to these applicants at the APC level, I'm barred by bylaw to speak to these applications, at the Public Hearing stage ***

Steve's Political Rant #2

From the "bad news" department:

1) Carole James and the BC NDP have published information about complaints re: Seniors' Care at facilities in Victoria/Williams Lake, dating back to 2002 and going forward as far as 2005. These facilities are owned by Retirement Concepts. I personally got a tour of the Williams Lake facility prior to its' opening, while I was a member of Williams Lake's Health Advisory Committee. I'm also aware of a complaint that came out of Williams Lake Seniors' Village in 2004 and while I can't discuss the particulars of the complaint due to the fact it was discussed at an In-Camera meeting of the Health Advisory Committee, I can absolutely say that the Williams Lake Seniors' Village is well run/managed as of late. I understand that this isn't necessarily the case at Retirement Concepts' Victoria facility. I'm sure that there will also be complaints on how one is treated at a health care facility, be it a hospital or even a Seniors' Care facility. I think the process is important here: the complaint needs to be investigated in a neutral-based manner by the local Health Authority Staff and if the complaint is legitimate, then corrective action is taken to resolve the complaint. Simple, really. No politics involved. Figure out the problem then solve it, working together with Health Authority Staff, family members and on-site staff. So, the NDP needs to understand that rehashing old complaints from 2003-2005 and proclaiming it as a "pattern of ignored complaints" by a "uncaring" government is a little far fetched, given that there hasn't been any complaints about seniors care in Williams Lake, in any event, for the last year. I understand that this isn't the case at Retirement Concepts facility in Victoria and they will have to solve the problems at that facility there. When the NDP ran publicly funded and staffed senior care facilities, even those facilities were the subject of complaints. And just as life isn't perfect, taking care of seniors', given their medical state, can be challenging at times.

2) In the October 3rd, 2007 edition of the Cariboo Observer (local Williams Lake newspaper)
Carole James wrote an letter to the editor proclaiming "there is widespread agreement that the time is right for a minimum wage increase, over 30 municipal councils' have passed resolutions calling on the Province to increase the minimum wage to $10.00/hour".

While wages in Metro Vancouver have proved challenging to those living there, increasing the minimum wage won't help to solve the issue around those who struggle to pay the bills. But instead, we need to focus on training those in minimum wage jobs and upgrade their skills so they can provide a better life for themselves and their families. Also, 30 municipal councils out of 150 municipal councils Province-wide who support an increase to the minimum wage is not, in my view, "wide spread". In fact, the percentage of municipal councils who support a call for an increase to the minimum wage is actually 20%. I would suggest those municipal councils' who want to see an increase in the minimum wage are in the minority.


In the "good news" department:

Act Now BC Minister of State Gordon Hogg will be in Williams Lake on Friday to promote the Act Now BC Program. Then on Saturday, Premier Campbell along with Ministers Pat Bell (Minister of Agriculture & Lands), Shirley Bond (Minister of Education/Deputy Premier
Claude Richmond (Minister of Income Assistance) along with John Rustad (Northern MLA's Caucus Chair and MLA for Prince George-Omenica) will all be attending a BC Liberal Party's Regional Conference for all 3 Prince George ridings', along with both Cariboo ridings, the 2 Kamloops ridings and Yale-Lillioet in Williams Lake. Topics for discussion include Health Care, Forestry and Transportation issues in these ridings. As well, Premier Campbell will give a speech to the party faithful present. I will discuss the proceedings of this conference in a future post. I'm very much looking forward to this weekend. There is a chance that Kevin Krueger (Minister of State - Mining) will attend this conference, but is subject to his calendar being open for this event this Saturday.

- SBF

Steve's Political Rant

Well, this has been a busy week in provincial politics... :)

Firstly, news broke out that former BC NDP MLA and Cabinet Minister during the 1990's and currently the Mayor of Golden, Jim Doyle jumped from the BC New Democrats over to the BC Liberals and there is speculation that he'll run in his former riding of Columbia River-Revelstoke in the 2009 Provincial General Election. As those of you remember Jim Doyle, he was hardcore NDP, as hardcore as current NDP MLA Harry Lali. Not the kind of news that Carole James needed.

Secondly, the Union of BC Municipalities Convention was held this past week. Both Carole James, as Leader of the Opposition, and the Hon. Gordon Campbell - Premier, both spoke at the UBCM Convention, which wrapped up on Friday. Carole James gave her speech to UBCM Delegates on Wednesday and the Premier giving his keynote address on Friday. I was disappointed with her speech again, as it had the same kind of political rhetoric as she gave to NCMA Delegates at the NCMA Convention held in May of this year. She told UBCM Delegates that she and her party were fundamentally opposed to the Gateway project as a whole, even though several of her MLA's including Harry Baines (Surrey-Newton), Mike Farnworth (Port Coquitlam-Burke and the NDP Opposition House Leader) have stated publicly that they support twinning of the Port Mann Bridge, which is part of the Gateway Project. I believe twinning of the Port Mann Bridge is part of a bigger solution which is allows for the free flow of goods and people between Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Watch for Ms. James to take a big hit, politically, for this blunder. Then yesterday, Ms. James was on CKNW's Bill Good Show to "clarify" her comments on the Gateway Project related to the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge. Lots of callers clearly weren't buying it. They essentially slammed her for not supporting the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge. Twinning this bridge is essential if residents from Surrey, Langley want to use buses from their homes into the Metro Vancouver Region.

The BC NDP even engaged in "fed bashing" because the federal government didn't bring any "new" transit money to the table. Obviously, they haven't learned yet that fed bashing, while it may be popular here, isn't going to help when you lobby federal cabinet ministers and the Prime Minister for making investments in transit in the Metro Vancouver Region. Also, the NDP slammed the Premier's speech at the UBCM Convention for not announcing anything new and along with no new initiatives for Pine Beetle affected communities in BC, which I think is a farce, personally, as I believe you'll see both provincial/federal governments providing even more support for rural communities roll out in short order in addition to the money that both levels have announced so far

All in all - not the best political week for Carole James and the BC NDP. Hopefully, Carole James can hang on as BC NDP Leader until after the 2009 Provincial General Election and perhaps convince other NDP MLA's, former or present, to join the BC Liberals who may be becoming disenfranchised with the BC NDP .

Have a great weekend... :)

WL Council Highlights - September 18th, 2007

Delegations:

1) Gerry Desrochers - TRU Director for WL Campus - he gave Council an overview of ongoing and future activities at TRU's WL Campus including landscaping and future courses in trades and nursing

2) Irene Willsie - Women's Contact Society - requesting Council's support for the "Take Back the Night" event on September 21st, 2007. Council gave its' strong support for this event and encouraged the entire community to come out and lend its' support to this very important event.
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Business:

1) The garbage contact between the City and Central Cariboo Disposal has been extended to April 30th, 2008. This will allow City Staff enough time to put together a comprehensive Request for Proposal which will include expanded recycling with the inclusion of the "Blue Box" program

2) Councillor Rathor expressed his grave concern over the lack of work on re-paving of road shoulders by the Ministry of Transportation. Council agreed to work with the Ministry of Transportation to encourage the benefits of paved road shoulders for cyclists.

3) Council granted permission to the Central Cariboo Economic Development Corporation to use the City's Cowboy Hat Logo for marketing purposes in connection with the TDC.

4) A budget request of $32, 425 for the Museum of the Cariboo-Chilcotin for their operating expenses was approved by Council. This amount will become part of the Central Cariboo Leisure Services Master Budget for 2008.

5) Councilor Ed Mead was given permission by Council to attend a "Building Safer Communities: Gangs, Drugs, and Domestic Violence Issues" conference in Richmond, BC to be held on October 31st and November 1st, 2007.

6) Re-zoning/OCP Proposals for BCR Properties, Elizabeth Hunt, Jim Willson and Ben Peterson all received 3rd Reading. These Re-Zoning proposals are now referred to Ministries of Transportation/Environment for their consent.

7) Pioneer Family Land Partnership proposal on South Lakeside Drive received 2nd Reading. This proposal will be the subject of a Public Hearing on October 16th, 2007. The hearing will likely start at 7:00pm.

A Excellent Newspaper Column by Mike Smyth - Vancouver Province

Yesterday, Micheal Smyth of the Vancouver Province talked about both the Premier and Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan meeting with BC Green Leader Chris Bennett. The Premier takes time to meet with Mr. Bennett on a regular basis and always returns his phone calls. I bet Carole James wishes that she could get such treatment from the Premier. But this is politics - plain and simple. The Greens and the NDP share the same vote base. With the Greens at 15% and the NDP in the low 30%, the Greens are siphoning enough of the left-wing vote to prevent the NDP from receiving a majority of votes to become government in Victoria. Mayor Sam Sullivan is even attempting to get BC Green Leader Chris Bennett to speak at the UBCM Convention next week. Mr. Bennett tried to get the support of the BC New Democrats and its' leader, Ms. James. Her response? - I encourage you to continue your lobbying with mayors, councillors and the UBCM executive, It is these locally elected representatives, rather than provincial politicians, who, as you know, make the decisions with the UBCM agenda. Obviously, she isn't going to help Mr. Bennett with his political ambitions to have Greens in the Legislature in 2009. As for Mayor Sullivan motives, it is true that the Local Government Elections are next year and if Mayor Sullivan wants to stay Mayor for a further 3 years, right through the 2010 Olympics, then COPE (Coalition of Progressive Electors) and Vision Vancouver have to stay divided right through the next civic election. Personally, I don't see COPE and Vision Vancouver working together to defeat the NPA's (Non-Partisan Association) hold at Vancouver City Hall during the 2008 Local Government Elections

Public Consulation Session - OCP Amendment Application - Pioneer Family Land Partnership

Hello all:

Tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 11th, 2007), Pioneer Family Land Partnership along with the City of Williams Lake will be hosting a Public Consulation Session for Pioneer's Application for an amendment to the City's OCP. The development will be including a Walmart along with other small "big-box" stores. This meeting tomorrow is a requirement in accordance with Section 879 of the Local Government Act.

The meeting is being held at Pioneer Log Homes' Office. The address is 351 Hodgson Road, up from Mainland Roofing. I personally will be in attendance. I would strongly encourage all of those who read my blog to be in attendance and let the proponents know how you feel on their application.

This application will be before the Advisory Planning Commission of which I'm Vice-Chair on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 12:00 noon. Although members of the public can attend, they are not permitted to speak to this application, although representatives of Pioneer Family Land Partnership may speak before the APC, if they so wish. During this meeting, the APC will be considering this application and a reference to City Council for a recommendation for Second Reading of Pioneer's re-zoning and OCP Amendment applications.

Carole James and the Electoral Boundary Commission

Yesterday, I recieved a newsletter from the NDP where she wants to know where the Premier (Hon. Gordon Campbell) is on the Preliminary Report of the Electoral Boundary Commission. She suggested that because the BC Liberal Party chose not to make a presentation to the Electoral Boundary Commission, while her party made a presentation to the Electoral Boundary Commission during its' 1st Round of Public Hearings that it is another example of the Campbell government abandoning Rural BC. Then she went on to cite all of the things that the Campbell government did during its' 1st Term (2001-2005) including closing of schools and imposing a police tax on small communities to pay for Rural RCMP services.

While I could go on all the things the NDP did to Rural BC during the 90's, I will say that I'm disappointed that the NDP chose to get politically involved in, what is generally a apolitical process. In fact, during the last review of the BC Electoral Distict Map for the Legislature, the NDP Cabinet of the day used its' power to protect ridings' held by Cabinet Ministers like the riding of Kamloops held by then NDP Minister Cathy McGregor. Her riding was scheduled to be divided up. So, when it comes to review mechanisms like the Electoral Boundary Commission, we should allow them to do their work without interference from political bodies, like the BC-NDP Party or the BC Liberal Party and allow individual BC'ers to state directly to the Electoral Boundary Commission on how they feel on the proposed new electoral district map and allow the process to unfold as it will.

My Response to WL CAO's Blog Post called "City Admin 101: An Introduction

Yesterday, Alberto DeFeo (City of WL's CAO) posted the following at his blog (http://wlcao.blogspot.com/):

Many times, I am asked the question 'what do you do at City Hall?'. I have to admit there is no easy answer. I also realize that our school system does not provide sufficient education or training to equip our children with fundamental knowledge about political relations and government administration, which, I think, it is critical to their future lives. I also noticed that people become interested in City Hall only if it affects them negatively. Yet, there is so much that is decided and done by both City politicians and City staff that has a positive impact in the community that we give it for granted and people seem to not know or to have the wrong information. I guess it goes with the territory. It's a bit like the newspapers, the negative sells the positive doesn't. This is a societal distortion that we need to correct and as civic leaders, we at City Hall are trying our best to change it here in Williams Lake. Indeed, for the sake of our community's good future, we need to abandon some negative stereotypes and embrace positive change. I'll give you an example.For instance, did you know that the City has been working very hard in the last three years to advance a plan to conserve our water? Why do we need such a thing? Well, mostly because we can't survive more than a few days (probably three or four) without water, which is a precious commodity second only to air. Also, because we want our children and all future generations to live better and not worse, including having access to the best water in the world. Finally, because water is a gift and we should respect it. Today, the residents and taxpayers are enjoying cheap acces to water (parcel water tax is only $40 a year in WL) but do they know that in order to repair and maintain our water systems and to conserve water for an acceptable length of time in the future we need more than that? If we focus on the immediate economic effect of the plan on our family and personal budgets without thinking of the long-term impact and benefits, then the usual reaction would be 'These Politicians: they always find a way to grab some more of our money.' But if we focus on the results and benefits of the plan, then our reaction may be 'I am willing to make an investment in our water and I will support our City to implement our plan.' I did not use the words City Plan, but 'our plan'. Because it is our plan after all and seeing it that way makes a world of difference. Now, I will certainly discuss the City's Water Conservation Plan another time but the point is, residents are not completely informed and it is mainly our fault (the City's), and so they tend to see what is communicated to them. And, if it is negative, then their level of trust in their City government just won't be very high.So, the City Page, this blog and other pieces of information that the City provides are very important to make the community aware and, I hope, to make people interested in their government and to help them shake off their apathy and negativity towards City government.I guess this can be a bit of an introduction to a much wider topic. So, next time, I will explain a little bit more how the City operates because, from what I hear, there is some sort of mystery on what we do. But, again, it really isn't a mystery, is it? We just need to explain. So enjoy your week-end and I hope you'll take the time to read this blog coming next week.

My response to the above is:

I agree with most of the above except with the fact that I feel that people, particularly adults, must become more empowered to learning about issues in their City. Too often, it is too easy to hear rumours about what City Council / City Staff are doing and often putting "a rumour here" and a "rumour there" together and believing it as the Gospel Truth, which by then City Staff/Council have to spend massive amounts of time putting out the "real truth" out there on any given issue and by which time, people emotions come into play and get worked up without knowing all of the answers. I also agree the time has come perhaps to expand the curriculum that schools teach on government by teaching how the federal/provincial and local government (Municipal/County/Regional District) function and how each level of government impacts an individual's life. By teaching this to the young ones, I believe that we will have a more empowered society that believes that government actually does good work. Also, somehow all levels of government must engage society as to the work that each level does and why.

New Blog - CAO, City of Williams Lake

This morning in today's (September 6th, 2007) WL Tribune, it was announced that a blog was started by Alberto DeFeo, PhD (Law), Chief Administrative Officer - City of Williams Lake. This blog will communicate with residents' on activities of the City. I strongly encourage those who read this blog to read his blog at http://wlcao.blogspot.com, however anonymous comments can not be left. Communication efforts of late by the City seem to mirror those by the City of Quesnel although I suspect that the City of Quesnel, may sooner or later, attempt to start a blog by their City Manager, Charles Hamilton.