Lower Mainland Transit Funding and Carole James

1) Transit Funding

I see over at Langley Politics.Com (http://www.langleypolitics.com) that several Lower Mainland Mayors still want to use the Carbon Tax revenue to fund transit in the Lower Mainland. I want to repeat what I said on that website and that is -- if the Carbon Tax is to be used to fund transit, it MUST be funded province wide and not restricted to a specific region of the Province. As for the transit funding issues in the Greater Vancouver area, residents' there and their elected officials must match wants/needs to revenue coming in. If tax hikes or increases to user fees aren't in the cards, then you must scale back the service to the money (revenue) coming in. It's just that simple. Also, aggressive lobbying efforts to get Victoria/Ottawa to fund Transit Operations should continue with under the guise of greening Lower Mainland communities and improving air quality in the Fraser Valley airshed, which can look horrible, from a tourist perspective, from time to time.

2) Carole James and the Provincial Issues

So, I got a copy of Carole James's speech to the Provincial NDP Council on June 27th and she says that she's angry that the government hid the truth from voters' in the 39th General Election, that cuts are coming. Of course, we BC Liberals' know that this is boohookey. The fact remains - yes, there is a deficit for this fiscal year (2009-2010) and next year (2010-2011) and a return to balanced budgets in the 2011-2012 fiscal year. And also, no question, budgets' will be tight this year and next, but I believe the provincial government can manage those budgets' through the times we've living in. But I believe Canadian society must get its' head wrapped around one thing: the health-care system of the past where government funded it to be all things to all people can no longer happen now, given the population numbers of today and the projected numbers down the road. Otherwise, as Gary Collins (former Minister of Finance) once said years' ago -- We'll be able to afford health-care, a little education and nothing else (Transportation, Social Services, etc) will all have to go. That's not the way I want my province and its' budget to be handled.

Committee of the Whole Meeting - Tuesday June 7th

Present: All Members of WL City Council

Staff Present: Sue Moxey (Corporate Officer), Brian Carruthers (Acting CAO), Darcy Lazzarin (General Manager of Corporate Services), Liliana Dragowska (City Planner), and Geoff Goodall (General Manager of Planning and Operations)

Meeting called to order at 6:30pm

Delegation - Mike Jacobsen/Andre Chevigny re: Item D1 - Renaming of Streets at Prosperity Ridge Site

Mr. Jacobsen/Mr. Chevigny requested the Committee to change the name of the streets on the site from Rick Hansen/Stevenson to Pioneer/Prosperity

Several Council members' noted that perhaps the Street Naming Policy, relative to the name of streets on private developments' was not necessarily followed and the precedent set by previous Councils' was not followed either

The Public Works Portfolio was tasked with addressing this issue with a request to report directly to Council at its' earliest opportunity. The delegation left the meeting at 6:53pm

The Committee also recommended to Council the following:

1) Williams Lake Downtown Parking Commission Repeal Bylaw #2092 be given 3 readings
2) Williams Lake Traffic Control Bylaw #2093 be given 3 readings

The Committee also reviewed the Cariboo Memorial Complex Management Agreement with the Cariboo Regional District. This matter will also be discussed at Thursday's Joint Committee meeting with the CRD Directors' for Electoral Areas D, E, F, J and K.

The Committee adjourned at 7:30pm

City's CAO Personal Blog

The City CAO has started his own personal blog.

The address is --> http://alby59.wordpress.com

An Apology

To all those who monitor my blog, I'm sorry that I've haven't been keeping up on my blog posting. My grandfather has been ill for sometime now and I've been up to see him once a day to see how he's doing. But I promise to keep up on my blog entry

A friendly reminder that the 83rd Annual WL Stampede starts Friday morning with the usual breakfasts put on by the local service clubs (Knights of Columbus, Daybreak Rotary, etc) with the 1st Rodeo Performance starting at 6pm at the Stampede Grounds and many other events in the City taking place from Friday, June 26th until Monday June 29th. The WL Stampede is a family-friendly event and I encourage everyone to take some time to take in some of the events that take place over the 4 days. A reminder as well that on Saturday, June 27th, the WL Stampede Parade also takes place and shouldn't be missed

Executive Council (Cabinet) of BC - 39th Parliament of BC

The new Executive Council, or Cabinet, of British Columbia is:

Hon. Gordon Campbell - Premier/President of the Executive Council
Hon. Colin Hansen - Deputy Premier/Minister of Finance
Hon. Kash Heed - Solicitor General
Hon. George Abbott - Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
Hon. Kevin Falcon - Minister of Health Services
Hon. Rich Coleman - Minister of Housing
Hon. Moira Stilwell - Minister of Advanced Education & Labour Market Development
Hon. Pat Bell - Minister of Forests and Range
Hon. Shirley Bond - Minister of Transportation
Hon. Mary Polak - Minister of Children and Family Development
Hon. Bill Bennett - Minister of Community and Rural Development
Hon. Ben Stewart - Minister of Citizens' Services
Hon. Margaret MacDiarmid - Minister of Education
Hon. Blair Lekstrom - Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Products
Hon. Randy Hawes - Minister of State - Mining
Hon. Barry Penner - Minister of the Environment
Hon. John Yap - Minister of State - Climate Action

Hon. Mike de Jong – Attorney General/Government House Leader

Hon. Iain Black – Minister of Small Business, Economic Development and Technology

Hon. Steve Thomas – Minister of Agriculture and Lands

Hon. Ida Chong - Minister of Healthy Living and Sport

Hon. Murray Coell – Minister of Labour

Hon. Mary McNeil – Minister of State (ActNowBC/Olympics)

Hon. Kevin Krueger – Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts

Hon. Naomi Yamamoto –Minister of State (Intergovernmental Relations)

Parliamentary Secretaries:

i) Donna Barnett (Cariboo-Chilcotin) - Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Community and Rural Development (Pine Beetle Community Recovery)

ii) Terry Lake (Kamloops-North Thompson) - Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Lands (Ranching Task Force)

iii) John Rustad (Nechako Lakes) - Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Forests and Range (Silviculture)

iv) Dave Hayer (Surrey-Tynehead) - Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizens' Services (Multiculturalism)

v) Richard T. Lee (Burnaby-North) - Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business, Technology and Ecomomic Development (Asia-Pacific Initiative)

vi) John Slater (Boundary-Similkameen) - Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Enviroment (Water Supply/Allocation)

Also:

Government House Leader - Hon. Mike de Jong

Deputy Government House Leader - Hon. George Abbott

The BC Liberals' will re-nominate Bill Barisoff for Speaker and nominate Linda Reid for Deputy Speaker

39th Provincial General Election

On Tuesday, people in the Province's 85 Electoral Districts cast ballots for candidates from the BC Liberal Party, the BC NDP Party, BC Conservatives, BC Refed and the Green Party of BC.

I'm sure everyone knows by now that the BC Liberals received a 3rd consecutive Majority Government.

Some races that will require an re-count include:

1) Cariboo-Chilcotin (NDP's Charlie Wyse ahead by 23 Votes over the BC Liberals' Donna Barnett)
2) Delta - South (BC Liberals and Attorney-General Wally Oppal has a 2 vote lead over Independent Candidate Vicky Huntington)

The results from the 39th General Election will be official on May 27th.

WL Council Report - April 21st

In Attendance:

Mayor Cook, with Councillors Rathor, Montoya, Barr, Walters, Bourdon and Zacharias

Staff Present:

Alberto DeFeo - CAO
Sue Moxey - Corporate Officer
Darcy Lazzarin - GM of Corporate Services
Geoff Goodall - GM of Planning and Operations
Anne Burill - Manager, Social Development
Alan Madrigga - Manager, Economic Development

Meeting called to order at 7:31pm

Delegations:

1) Stampede Queen Contestants (3) - The contestants gave Council a brief background on themselves

2) Capt Randy Kadonaga from Salvation Army gave Council an update on services provided by the Salvation Army. Mayor Cook then presented a "Community Spirit Certificate" to Capt Kadonaga thanking him, on behalf of Council and citizens of Williams Lake for all of their hard work

3) Staff Sgt Grant Martin (RCMP - WL Detachment Commander) presented an update to Council on crime stats and major cases in Williams Lake

Business:

1) Council adopted a report from Sue Moxey confirming that 2008 Council Candidate Chuck Pearson will be prohibited from running in the 2011 Local Government Election, due to Mr. Pearson failing to file a financial disclosure form on either March 16th and April 16th. This report will now be forwarded to Victoria for official confirmation, in accordance with Section 92.2 (1) of the Local Government Act

2) Council will be forwarding letters of support for both the Prosperity Mine Project and ESP's application to the Ministry of Housing & Social Development for a Labour Market Partnership - Project Funding

3) Council adopted Bylaw 2096 (Budget and 5-Year Financial Plan Bylaw) - Councillor Rathor was opposed

4) Council gave 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Reading to Bylaw 2097 (Annual Property Tax Bylaw) - Councillor Rathor was opposed

5) DVP #2-2009 and DP #1-2009 (Development Variance Permit / Development Permit) for Aviator Hotel were approved by Council. The DVP/DP dealt with form/character and parking restrictions for the Hotel. Construction for this Hotel will be commencing very soon

6) Website/Logo&Tagline for OCP/ICSP Review - Council approved the website, Logo and Tagline for the OCP/ICSP Review, which is to commence later this year

7) Annual Transit Operating Agreement - Council approved the agreement

8) 54th Annual NCMA (North Central Muncipal Association) - Council authorized Mayor and Councillors' to attend this conference May 6-8, 2009 in Dawson Creek, BC

9) North Cariboo Communities will be challenging Central Cariboo communities on Move for Health Day on May 7th. There will phone numbers that people can call in to their local Recreation facility and register the amount of time that they were active. Last year, Williams Lake beat out Quesnel for the most active residents'. I'd like to see us beat out Quesnel again this year

10) Canada Day Celebrations will take place this July 1st. Council agreed to waive fees for use of Boitanio Park, in addition to covering the event under the City's Insurance umbrella

11) The following days/month were proclaimed in Williams Lake:

April 19th to 25th - Prevention of Violence Against Women Week
May 2009 - Hearing and Speech Month

12) Council received In-Camera Report #2-2009 that stated the following:

"That the Highway 20 upgrade for access into the RC Cotton Site be confirmed as Council’s No. 1 priority for a grant application to the Building Canada Fund"

No further details are available with regard to the above In-Camera Resolution

Meeting adjourned at 9:15pm