qathet Regional District will request meetings at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention regarding policing on Texada Island and the Lund Waterworks Improvement District (LWID).
At the July 26 regional board meeting, directors considered a motion brought forward by Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick to meet at the UBCM convention with RCMP regarding continued community policing on Texada.
Chief administrative officer Al Radke said that based on previous discussions at the board meeting, he suggested that a meeting also be held with the provincial ministry of municipal affairs regarding the state of LWID.
McCormick said there was a time on Texada Island when having no police was well received, but now, it is likely that the detachment is going to close in the not-too-distant future.
“We’ve been warned of that already at the Texada Island public safety and policing committee,” said McCormick. “The needs of islanders when they call police are generally in-your-face needs, such as an intruder in the house, or there’s an abuse situation going on. It’s going to mean delays that will put people’s lives in jeopardy and I’m very concerned, as is the policing committee, about the possible closure of our detachment.”
McCormick said the opportunity to meet with RCMP leadership at UBCM came up, so she put forward the recommendation.
“I would like to talk to them about the importance of rural communities and having a police presence,” said McCormick. “We’d like to keep the police if we could.”
Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall said at the last UBCM convention, he and Electoral Area C director Clay Brander met with officials regarding improvement districts.
“We had to stick strongly to our guns,” said Fall. “It was challenging. We were both prepared and they heard us. That doesn’t mean they went away and did anything, but they eventually conceded that we had points to make. Being strong and prepared is important.”
Directors carried a motion to seek meetings with the RCMP and ministry of municipal affairs at the UBCM convention in September.
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