WL City Councillor P.T. French announces he wants to be the next City of Williams Lake Mayor

WL City Councillor P.T French announced in today's Tribune that he wants to be the next Mayor of Williams Lake. He stated why he thinks he would be a good Mayor including pushing for development of Esler Ball Fields, development of the working relationship between the Cariboo Regional District and the City of Williams Lake among others.

I would certainly request, that anyone that lives in the muncipal boundaries of Williams Lake and can vote in this November's election, to strongly consider Paul French for Mayor. Personally, I find Paul to be both approachable and one that listens' to all sides before making a decision. He is the kind of leader we need at the moment. Also, one of with political (City/CRD) experience that should make the choice for Mayor really easy

Anyhow, the full story is at:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/news/27119544.html

Quesnel Council Meeting Highlights - Aug.18/08

Delegations:

None

Business:

1) Quesnel Council agreed to extend hourly Transit along North Fraser Drive along with enhanced service to the Carson Subdivision and North Cariboo Community Campus. The City of Quesnel will also be offering a 2 for 1 student transit pass promotion in early September

2) Quesnel Council approved the awarding of the West Quesnel Sewer Force main replacement to Insituform technologies Ltd. for $626,397.34

3) Quesnel Council reviewed a draft environmental policy statement, with an eye towards developing a final version. The policy will formalize what the City is committed to regarding environmental protection and sustainability, with a goal of becoming a leader in municipal environmental performance.

4) The City of Quesnel will offer an extension of its recycling contract to Northern Recycling Inc. for eight years, with an annual contract cost increase tied to the B.C. Consumer Price Index

5) Quesnel Council authorized the purchase of 1 Dump Truck in the amount of $154,819.06 from IRL International Truck Centre Ltd. out of Kamloops

6) Council continues to address accessibility awareness in Quesnel. Council resolved to recognize and support the Quesnel Accessibility Advisory Committee in its efforts to reach the vision of making Quesnel the most disability-friendly and senior-friendly community in the North. The City will also revise its vision and mission statements to include statements on accessibility, inclusion, and developing an age-friendly and disability-friendly community.
In addition, the Official Community Plan will be amended to use the Committee’s strategic plan as a tool “for improving all means of transportation to people with a disability, seniors and the general public,” and “for improving and promoting accessibility and inclusion in the community.”

7) Council approved ordering materials that will be used to construct the underpass of Hwy. 97 at Racing Road. Council approved a purchase of $75,258.48 for the concrete box culvert that will be used in the construction of the extension of Quesnel’s outstanding trail network. The underpass will provide a safe link for pedestrians and cyclists under Hwy. 97. The project is valued at $1 million and will be built entirely thanks to grant funding from a variety of sources

WL Regional Airport resumes Operations

WL Tribune.com reports that the WL Regional Airport was to resume operations at around 8:45pm, according to Williams Lake Mayor Scott Nelson.

It is good to see that the airport security screening system along with Emergency Personnel came together to do its' job, which is to ensure a healthy and safe airline transportation system for the public. Since 9/11, it is always been better to shut down an airport over concerns about one's luggage than to allow said individual to board their flight, lest they be allowed to complete their evil intentions'

Story from Williams Lake Tribune's Website on Incident at WL Airport

WLTribune.com reports that this morning at 11:00am, WL Airport Staff called 911 after the X-ray scanner detected bomb-making particulate in 1 passenger bags. 1 individual has been detained. All individuals, both passengers and workers, have been moved into a hangar and the WL Airport has been shut down for at least 12 hours. Central Mountain Air (CMA) President, Doug McCrea, reports that 3 more flights from CMA are scheduled to arrive in Williams Lake today and that CMA is monitoring the situation and will respond as the situation warrants it.

Mayor Scott Nelson is at the WL Airport receiving briefings from the RCMP. A Bomb Squad from Vancouver was set to arrive at the WL Airport, around 3:00pm

The full story is at:

http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/news/27073094.html

150 Mile House Transit

The CRD announced on Friday that the start-up date for the WL Transit System Extension to the Fringe Areas outside the City of Williams Lake (150 Mile, Dog Creek, and Commodore Crescent) will be on Monday, August 18th

While we wait and see how the new transit system extensions will work out, I'm already concerned that the bus route to 150 Mile House will be a failure before it starts

As it stands now, the Bus system to 150 Mile House is as follows:
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Run from Williams Lake (Morning - 1 Run only)

i) Leave Boitanio Mall at 9:00am
ii) Leave WL Band Office at 9:13am
iii) Leave 150 Mile Store (Marshall's Store) at 9:19am
iv) Leave 150 Mile Mall at 9:23am

Run from 150 Mile House (Morning - 1 Run Only):

i) Leave 150 Mile Mall at 9:23am
ii) Leave WL Band Office at 9:32am
iii) Arrive at Boitanio Mall at 9:50am

Run from Williams Lake (Afternoon x 2):

i) Leave Boitanio Mall at 1:00pm and 4:00pm
ii) Leave WL Band Office at 1:13pm and 4:13pm
iii) Leave 150 Mile Store (Marshall's Store) at 1:19pm and 4:19pm
iv) Leave 150 Mile Mall at 1:23pm and 4:23pm

Run from 150 Mile House (Afternoon x 2)

i) Leave 150 Mile Mall at 1:23pm and 4:23pm
ii) Leave WL Band Office at 1:32pm and 4:32pm
iii) Arrive at Boitanio Mall at 1:50pm and 4:50pm

While I believe that Transit/Handi-DART will eventually be a good thing for Fringe Areas residents and I also believe that buy-in from area residents will need to happen as to route/costs. The present route from 150 Mile House into Williams Lake will be a failure as it is not designed to get maximum buy-in from area residents, in terms of usage

I guess we'll need to see the actual usage numbers to see whether or not my concerns are warranted

Congrats to CRD Area 'J' Director on Grand Opening of Tatlayoko Wilderness Trails

Last Saturday (August 9th), CRD Area 'J' Director Alex Bracewell along with Tatlayoko Community Association Members, members from Measuring Up the North and others were in attendance as the 2 kms of accessible wilderness trails were opened.

I know that Director Bracewell has been working at this for a period of time and I'm glad to see that the fruits of his labour are coming to fruition. I know, though, that this is a small example of his eventual goal of 210 kms of accessible, to all, wilderness trails by 2010

WL Council Highlights - August 12th

Delegations - None

Business:

1) OCP/Rezoning Bylaws for a Supportive Housing Complex from the Cariboo Friendship Society passed 2nd Reading following favourable comments from the City's APC (Advisory Planning Commission) on this application. This application will be scheduled for a Public Hearing on Tuesday, September 9th

2) Pioneer Family Land Partnership has applied to the City for a DVP (Development Variance Permit) to vary a section of the City's Development Procedures bylaw to allow for a off-site storm management was received/referred to the City's APC for recommendation(s)/comments and a future date will be set as to time/date when Council will formally consider this DVP

3) Council also received an application from Lakeview Point Development for a DVP to vary the Zoning Bylaw with respect to setback of lots lines (front and rear). This DVP was referred to the City's APC for recommendation/comments. A future time/date will be established as to when Council will formally consider this item

4) Council awarded winter sand contract to Lake Excavating for 2500 cubic metres of sand for a price of $30, 625

5) Mayor Nelson to issue a letter of support from UNBC's application to the Canada West
Universities Athletic Association (CWUAA)

6) Council endorsed the allocation of $40,000 from the City’s general surplus funds to help
fund RCMP overtime shifts until the end of the year. The focus will be on additional foot
patrols, drug enforcement and investigation and the Prolific Offender Program. Councillor
Ed Mead also indicated the possibility of an additional two officers for 2009

Reminder:

Candidate packages for Offices of Councillor + Mayor will be available on Friday, August 22nd

Next WL Council Meeting - Tuesday, August 26th

2 Dates to Consider

Hello all:

For those of you read my blog on a constant basis, here's 2 dates to keep in mind:

Thursday, August 28th, 2008 - This is the date I intend to reveal my political intentions for the November 15th, 2008 Local Government Elections (both here and I hope the Tribune will be in a position to publish my political intentions for November simultaneously)

Monday, September 8th, 2008 - The BC Liberal Cariboo North Riding Association will be holding their AGM and Delegate Selection Meeting at Begbies (500 Reid Street - Quesnel, BC)

CRD Bylaw #4420 (Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Service Establishment)

At its' meeting of July 18th - The Cariboo Regional District Board of Directors' gave 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reading to Bylaw #4420 of 2008 (Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Service Establishment)

This bylaw will now be the subject of Public Consultation Meeting or Meetings in September to be lead by the Central Cariboo Arts Council. Depending upon the outcome of this Public Consultation Meetings, Bylaw #4420 could proceed to AAP (Alternative Approval Process) or counter-petition in October

As I recently stated in a letter to the Editor - I believe people will support Arts and Culture, where asked and people have an ability to do so, but at the same time, I don't think taxpayers' want to go down the road of supporting non-profit groups because they can't fundraise enough to support their programs. The only exception I make in this case would be for the local community halls, they are essentially to those who chose to live in rural areas. Otherwise, if you can't get the necessary revenue for your programs, then I guess you have some budgetary decisions to make. I guess the other thing is that it doesn't appear that other options were considered including:

1) Increasing the budget for Grants-in-Aides
2) Look at Fee-for-Service for the Local Arts Groups in the Central Cariboo
3) Increase Budget for individual Electoral Areas Opportunity Funds

Finally, I have a philosophical problem with a group that will be the beneficiaries of a new Function leading Public Consultation, this in my opinion is a blatant conflict of interest. Finally, as I already stated, farmers told CRD Directors' at their July 18th meeting that they can't afford any new taxes. For Director Duncan Barnett (Area 'F') to state publicly that he is sympathetic to their concerns and then agree to 3 readings of Bylaw #4420, given the local economic climate and especially given the fact that Director Barnett is a farmer himself, is at the absolute height of hypocrisy.

The only acceptable option for the Electors' of CRD Areas D, E, F and the City of Williams Lake is to request that this Bylaw be sent to Town Hall meetings in Areas D, E,F and the Joint Town Hall meeting in Williams Lake in January and February of 2009 so that people have a big picture of what their property taxes will look like come July 1st, 2009

WL Council Highlights - July 22nd

Delegations:

1) The Owners' of 3 Amigos Racing Kennels appeared before Council to thank them for their financial and moral support over the years. They are moving to Manitoba to further their dog racing career

2) Certificate of Merit - Mayor Nelson presented a Certificate of Merit to Jason Wright, who saved Riley Timmerman from drowning in Chimney Lake on June 28th of this year

Business:

1) Council agreed to give 3rd Reading to Bylaws #2060/2061 (Rezoning/OCP Amendment Bylaws). These bylaws would permit the use of a "indoor storage facility" on Pioneer Family Land Partnership held lands. Nearby neighbours at Terra Ridge were fiercely opposed to this application during the Public Hearing, held earlier in the evening. The City's APC (Advisory Planning Commission) had also recommending that this application be rejected. As a result of 3rd Reading of Bylaws #2060/2061 - Council requested Staff to, within 60 days, put a gate across Hutchison Road barring regular public traffic and still allowing City Staff to access the City's Water Tower on Hutchison Rd. Further, Council authorized Staff to begin the legal process of shutting down Hutchison Road (process takes about 1 year to complete)

2) Council adopted a Recommendation from Committee of the Whole which requests Staff, within 60 days, to prepare a report for Council's consideration to implement all recommendations of the Water Advisory Committee including formation of a new permanent Water Advisory Committee.

3) Council adopted a Recommendation from Committee of the Whole which request Staff to prepare a report for Council's consideration at a future Committee of the Whole meeting with regards to a new Industrial Tax Exemption Zone with Financial implications

CRD Board Highlights - July 18th

Delegations:

1) A group of farmers' from the North, Central and South Cattlemen Associations' presented several concerns they had to the Board, who were quite sympathetic to their plight and ensured the Delegation that the Board would do what it could at this fall's UBCM Convention to raise their concerns with the appropriate Cabinet Ministers

Business:

1) The Board gave 1st, 2nd, 3rd Reading to Bylaw #4420 (Central Cariboo Arts and Culture Service Establishment). This bylaw is the final product of discussions from the Central Cariboo Joint Committee and the local Arts Council regarding lack of funding vis-a-vis local Arts programming. (Note: I will expand on this topic further in another post)

2) Aug 9 - Director Alex Bracewell (Area 'J') will be at the grand opening of new Wheelchair-Accessible Wilderness Trails at Tatlayoko Lakes (about a 3.5 hour drive west of Williams Lake). This project is part of Director Bracewell's ulitmate vision of 210 kms of wheelchair-accessible wilderness trails by 2010.

3) Recycling at 150 Mile House - Recycling Bins have now been added at the 150 Mile House Transfer Station and depending upon the outcome of this trial project, more recycling bins may be added to other transfer stations throughout the Regional District

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.