Thoughts on BC Politics and More

This past Saturday – Saanich North and the Islands MLA Adam Olsen wrote in this blog about getting on with a fiscal framework for BC’s Local Governments -- which has been discussed for many years with Provincial Governments of different political stripes (Socreds, NDP, BC Liberals) however I want to look at this from an Electoral Area point of view… There are 155 Electoral Areas in BC today (these Electoral Areas were created in 1965 along with the corresponding Regional District – 27 in BC today) each with 1 representative from each of these Electoral Areas.  And in of these Electoral Areas, there are quite a few unincorporated communities whose local government is the nearby Regional District.  Electoral Areas can have total population ranging from 400 in the Hixon area (Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, Electoral Area ‘E’) to as much as 8,000 in the South Shuswap (Columbia Shuswap Regional District, Electoral Area ‘C’).  Each unincorporated community is u...

The City of Kamloops is receiving a grant of nearly $1.3 million; it’s being paid to the city in lieu of taxes. And the reason for this? Under the federal Constitution Act, the provincial government is exempt from paying taxes.   Regardless, they still use exactly the same resources that local governments provide each and every resident and business.   You know, things like maintain roads, building new infrastructure, providing water and sewer services – the list goes on. So, when Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Minister of Citizens’ Services indicated that, “ These annual grants play a critical role in helping local governments with planning – they use the funding to provide vital services and infrastructure that help improve people’s lives ”, she was stating the obvious. The government isn’t doing us any favour.   Each and every community in BC provides services, which have to be paid for one way or...

Alan Forseth ~~ Kamloops, BC ~~ April 17 th , 2019 ONE YEAR AGO ... back on April 13 th , the Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Minister Doug Donaldson announced that the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation has been granted $2 million to aid in caribou habitat restoration. At the time he also stated, that roads, trails, right-of-ways and seismic lines have changed the landscape where caribou live. This makes them vulnerable to predators, such as wolves, bears and cougars. The Caribou Habitat Restoration Fund will help to disrupt these lines of sight and travel – through reforestation, fencing, fertilization and other measures – to restore the caribou’s habitat and to decrease predatory attacks . In reading the Canada British Columbia Conservation Agreement for South Mountain Caribou in British Columbia – the agreement for the conservation of the Southern Mountain Caribou pursuant to section 11 of the Species at Risk Act --- and ...

Have you ever heard of the Local Government Leadership Academy, otherwise known as the LGLA?   I hadn’t either until a couple of weeks ago, and so I checked around to find out who, and what, the LGLA was ... better yet, is it important?  It certainly seems so, which is disappointing as I feel confident saying I believe most (nearly all) British Columbians have any idea what it is. One good source of information, on the LGLA, turned out to be right in my own back yard.  Kamloops City Councillor Arjun Singh, actually chairs the Board of the LGLA .  While unsure of when it began (I discovered it was 2005), he told me: “ For many of local government elected officials, when first elected, these sessions have been incredibly helpful to learn about our new roles, and to draw on a province-wide resource of knowledge and expertise .” And indeed, the website for t he   (LGLA) indicates that it is ... a leadership initiative for B...

Gavin Dew, founder of the Forum for Millennial Leadership (FML) On Thursday, at the UBCM annual meeting which was held in Whistler, Gavin Dew, founder of the Forum for Millennial Leadership (FML) spoke at a session entitled, “Engaging Millennials”.  At the session, he spoke of millennial leadership, polling on millennials in politics, why millennials are a growing electoral force, and why we should help. My nephew Steve Forseth, Cariboo Regional District Area “D” representative, attended the workshop session and when I asked him about the session he stated: “ The session Engaging Millennial's was an interesting one, lots of tips on how a local government can start up a youth council, and an engaging session on how to get more young people involved in local government .”   Young people in public leadership is not a new concept, but it is not an easy journey. Perhaps one of the very reasons the Forum for Millennial Leadership was formed, and why on Tuesday (S...