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Provincial Consultation with Municipalities
Status
Endorsed by the NCLGA Membership | Endorsed by the NCLGA Membership - Amended & Endorsed by the UBCM Membership
WHEREAS Section 2 of the Community Charter states that consultation is a key principle defining the local government/provincial government relationship and acknowledges that the residents of BC are benefited when both local and provincial governments work together;
AND WHEREAS Provincial policies such as the Caribou Recovery Program, Old Growth Forest Policy Review and the Province’s decision not to appeal the Supreme Court’s decision in Yahey v. British Columbia impact communities in a variety of ways both directly and indirectly:
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the North Central Local Government Association and the Union of BC Municipalities lobby the Province of BC to engage in meaningful consultation with municipalities that will be impacted by Provincial policy.
Actions
Meeting held December 1, 2022 with Hon. Minister Nathan Cullen, Mike Allison (Communications Director), Scott Andrews (Ministerial Advisor), Alanah Connie (Senior Public Affairs Officer), Tara Faganello (Assistant Deputy Minister), Quinn MacTavish (Executive Assistant), Okenge Yuma Morisho (Deputy Minister)
During discussion on Resolution L10, the following comments were offered:
I will be happy to hear what the dialogue comes out of UBCM and NCLGA around this. We had set up a parallel process regarding the MOU with the Wet'suwet'en First Nation, which might be a useful model. We do not have a perfect model, but the community engagement with Wet'suwet'en is improving. The processes evolve over time, and the Supreme Court is clear in telling us what our obligations are. We are working to evolve, to include a better way to communicate out to communities. For First Nations, it helps to have good communication lines to the other regions. A consistent message heard has been that the relationship between First Nations governments and local government needs more work. There is a need and opportunities for strengthening and deepening those dialogues.