City of Powell River Council approved two resolutions for the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention in September.
At the June 22 city council meeting, councillors considered rewording of section 744 of the Local Government Act regarding most extreme climate change risk, proposed by councillor Rob Southcott, and a revision of Section 90 of the Community Charter regarding First Nations governments being recognized, proposed by councillor Cindy Elliott.
Regarding section 744, Southcott said it relates to a resolution that Powell River and District of Lake Country submitted to the 2021 UBCM convention, which was passed by the assembly. He said the resolution was sent to the province.
“We found, after quite a long period of time, they didn’t see it as a high enough priority,” said Southcott. “We see no other way to try to elevate this than to resubmit to UBCM. I’m prepared to speak to it on the floor if it is pulled.
“I’ve also requested a meeting with the minister of municipal affairs to back this up. This [resolution] would simply remove three words from the Local Government Act that allows for nuisance suits against municipalities.”
Elliott said she remembers when the motion was originally presented to UBCM, and it does represent a significant financial risk to municipalities, and it puts more burden on BC municipalities than other provinces do.
“I’m in favour of putting it forward again for the ministry of municipal affairs to hopefully prioritize this,” said Elliott.
Council carried unanimously the motion for the resolution to be presented to the UBCM.
Regarding the inclusion of First Nations in section 90, Elliott said what this resolution does is ask the ministry of municipal affairs to amend legislation to recognize First Nations as a level of government, similar to the province and federal governments, which are already named and recognized in the legislation.
Elliott said the resolution supports intergovernmental communication on the same level as other governments.
This resolution also passed unanimously.
The resolution indicated that section 90 provides for the ability for confidential government-to-government negotiations, but does not include First Nations in this provision. The resolution calls upon the provincial government to amend section 90 to recognize First Nations as a level of government, thereby recognizing and affording equitable protection for government-to-government meetings on par with other levels of government listed in the act.
