Mayor Patricia Heintzman met with the premier and seven ministers and deputy ministers over the course of the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) annual convention held in Vancouver last week.
The face-to-face meetings at the Sept. 21-25 convention, which this year drew 2,072 delegates, according to UBCM staff, are like speed dating, Heintzman said.
“You get 15 minutes to sort of make your case,” she said, adding the provincial government leaders make themselves available to hear from all the communities in the province during the convention.
She met with ministers both in her role as mayor and also as a director of the Squamish- Lillooet Regional District.
She also met with Premier Christy Clark about the economic value of the roads in the Sea to Sky Corridor, “[about] how do we help the northern area of the regional district benefit from the tourism success of Squamish and Whistler in the south,” she said.
“And the importance not only of Internet connectivity but road connectivity and actually creating economic prosperity.”
A meeting with Minister of Finance Michael de Jong focused on the cost of gasoline in the corridor due to the influence of the TransLink tax in the Lower Mainland.
“How we essentially pay the TransLink tax even though we aren’t paying the TransLink tax,” she said, adding about what the options might be in terms of translating the revenue into a possible Sea to Sky motor fuel tax that could be put into local transit.
“It was very exploratory to say, ‘Is this something that the province would even consider?” and Minister de Jong said, ‘Yes, it is.’”
Heintzman said the fuel tax is just an idea for now, and council would have to be certain the community was onboard with the plan, but it was a first step to introduce the idea to the minister.
She also met with the ministry of health on a number of health-related issues, she said. “From hospice beds and mental health beds in our hospital to the training needed to actually be able to do the rape kits up here,” she said.
Another meeting was with the ministry of forests, lands and natural resource operations about the provincial response to firefighting, “how this year’s fires dramatically affected the economics in the communities in all of the region, not just because our logging operations had to stand down for a considerable amount of time – huge amounts of harvestable timber are now gone, but also the air quality issues, the health issues, the related issues with regard to potential negative effects on tourism,” she explained.
One of the dozens of resolutions passed by the delegates that was most newsworthy was municipalities said they have the authority to regulate medical marijuana dispensaries, defying the federal government’s opposition to regulation of the illegal stores.
“Dispensaries are moving into communities, and a lot of people see them as obviously a benefit for medical purposes,” Heintzman said.
The mayor noted the delegates’ recommendations don’t always lead to action on the provincial and federal levels.
Overall, Heintzman said, the UBCM convention, which she has attended 10 times over the years, is a chance to network with and learn from other community leaders.
“That’s a really valuable asset to have, to be able to engage in those conversations at a meaningful level and make things happen because you have made those connections and networks.”
Councillors Karen Elliott and Ted Prior also attended this year’s UBCM.
***Please note this story has been corrected since it was first posted to reflect that Mayor Heintzman is a director with the SLRD and no longer the chair as was originally stated.
