the broken typewriter

Both the District of Taylor and City of Fort St. John are opting to request less meetings with ministers and staff at this year’s Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention, thus enabling more local representatives to take part in meetings on the most important issues.

At last year’s UBCM, the City of Fort St. John had nineteen 15-minute meetings with ministers and senior staff on topics important to city residents, according to Councillor Gord Klassen.

Attending this many meetings within such a short timeframe proved challenging, as a result in her report to council Corporate Officer Bonnie McCue has suggested Council prioritize fewer requests to make the meetings both more meaningful and able to have more members of council participating in each one.

Mayor Lilia Hansen said she tries to be present at all the ministerial meetings, so focussing on the most important issues would make that goal easier to accomplish.

Among these important issues are the increasing emergency room diversions and the lack of staff that’s creating the problem. At UBCM the government is going to hear about these healthcare issues from both Fort St. John and Taylor council members, while Fort St. John will be pushing for movement on the third unit at Peace Villa.

“It was announced three years ago that the third pod is a go, but it’s not in the budget yet,” said Hansen.

“If we can start these meeting with delivering some good news about things that we’re doing in those areas,” Klassen suggested that might help the ministers be more receptive to the city’s needs. Such as mentioning the construction of the Harlequin project, and its benefits to the community.

After much discussion, council decided to request meetings with the Minister of Health regarding Peace Villa, diversions, and medical staff recruitment; the Minister of Public Safety regarding implementation of the Safety Amendment Act; the Minister of Forests about the NCLGA resolution on speeding up the process to get permits to salvage wood; and the Minister of Municipal Affairs regarding latecomer fees on title, consultation with local governments, and foreign workers.

Although mental health and detox is a big concern, Councillor Trevor Bolin noted that they’ve been pursuing the issue for 16 years without much progress.

“I don’t think meeting with ministers for 9 mins at UBCM is going to make a difference. If we want to do something, if we meet with them on our own,” Bolin said. He proposed that the city meet with them after UBCM and express what our community’s concerns are.

“One on one, not in a nine-minute speed dating session.”

With respect to foreign workers, Hansen said: “We hear from our hoteliers, our service industry that we lose a lot of our workers. We’re competing with city of GP, they’re able to obtain their permanent residency faster. So, we’re bringing them in, we’re doing the training, but then if they have the opportunity to get residency faster, then they’re heading over there. A loss to our businesses of their time and their investment, and it affects what services we have here.”

Like Fort St. John, Taylor Council opted to request fewer meetings in order to have more local representatives attend the meetings, as well as being able to attend meetings that the Peace River Regional District is requesting.

“Council decided years ago not to load up on too many meetings, to pare it down to what’s really important to us,” Councillor Betty Ponto said at the May 27 Committee of the Whole meeting.

“I think we should never let go of the Taylor Bridge,” she added.

Council agreed to request two meetings, one with the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure regarding the Peace River Bridge, Highway 97 rail and road crossings, and public transit. The other meeting request is with the Minister of Health regarding healthcare service levels.

The deadline for municipalities to request meetings with government ministers is June 21. The UBCM convention will be held in Vancouver from September 16 – 20, 2024.