City of Powell River staff will assist council members in drafting three resolutions for the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention in September.
At the May 30 committee of the whole meeting, under new business, five potential UBCM resolutions were introduced and discussed. The city has a deadline of June 30 to submit resolutions.
The first resolution to be drafted, brought forward by councillor Cindy Elliott, is that a Community Charter section 90 closed meetings amendment be made, recognizing First Nations governments as a level of government.
Elliott said the initiative will provide equitable treatment between First Nations and other levels of government.
“The legislation is silent and doesn’t address or include First Nations as a level of government that municipalities are allowed to treat like a local government; I’d like that changed,” said Elliott. “We had, at the qathet Regional District wording that was passed to move forward at that level, so I propose that I would work with the city clerk and bring back wording that is very similar and consistent to the motion brought forward at the regional district.
“It isn’t to create any new powers. It is only to include First Nations as a level of government to access powers and to treat them equitably along with other levels of government.”
Councillor George Doubt said he voted against the motion at the regional district meeting because when there is a level of government with no Indigenous representation, such as city council or the regional district, to suggest to the provincial government that elected officials are going to make decisions on how Indigenous people should be treated by the provincial government in the Community Charter is a step too far.
“If anybody is going to ask the provincial government to change the Community Charter about the rights of Indigenous people, it should be Indigenous people themselves,” said Doubt.
Councillor Trina Isakson made a motion to refer the draft resolution to Elliott and staff to bring back to the next council meeting. The motion carried, with Doubt and councillor Jim Palm opposed.
The next draft resolution accepted was for changes to BC Housing’s delivery, operations and management of supportive housing, brought forward by mayor Ron Woznow.
Woznow said BC Housing has forced an operational management program on contractors such as Lift Community Services, which was “an experimental approach.”
“There are well-proven approaches to run this type of supportive housing that have been very successful,” said Woznow.
Council voted unanimously for Woznow to work with staff to prepare a draft UBCM resolution as a document for council consideration regarding changes to BC Housing’s delivery, operations and management of supportive housing.
The third draft resolution approved was brought forward by councillor Rob Southcott regarding the Municipal Insurance Association of British Columbia (MIABC) for climate-related flooding events. He said there was a loophole in the Local Government Act related to stormwater management infrastructure in municipalities that he wants closed.
“Why I am interested in this is I believe in taking responsibility ourselves,” said Southcott. “Municipalities do all we can to avoid this kind of risk but I do not think we should be held responsible by the unfortunate victims of flooding. We all have responsibility and I would like to see this amendment to the Local Government Act.”
A draft resolution from councillor Earl Almeida regarding mandatory retail business holidays was deferred.
A draft resolution from Elliott, regarding registration of bicycles used on public roads and bike lanes, was deferred for consideration for the next Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities convention.
