Langley City’s mayor and councillors have been working to get their messages across to provincial politicians at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) meeting, which ran Sept. 18 to 22 in Vancouver.
The topics covered at the annual gathering have focused on housing, mental health care, the drug crisis, climate resiliency, and other topics that affect communities large and small across B.C.
“What is a concern for one is a concern for all,” said Langley City Mayor Nathan Pachal.
One of the key features of the annual UBCM is that it gives the municipalities of the province a chance to lobby provincial politicians.
They do that both as a body – often by passing resolutions asking for specific actions from the legislature in Victoria.
But there are also opportunities for local officials to meet with individual provincial cabinet ministers.
“It’s a bit of speed dating,” joked Pachal.
The local mayors and council members get 15 minute blocks with the ministers throughout the week.
Pachal noted on his blog that the City’s meetings included six cabinet ministers:
• Finance Minister Katrine Controy. The City asked for the province to split the residential property tax class into two categories – single and multi-family. The UBCM as a whole also endorsed that idea at this convention.
• Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon. City politicians asked for a province-wide policy of tenant protection and compensation when housing is redeveloped.
• Minister of Education and Child Care Rachna Singh, whom the City asked for help building and expanding schools in the City in anticipation of the arrival of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain line
• Minister of Health Adrian Dix. The City advocated for local firefighters to be better integrated into the pre-hospital care system, and to compensate local governments for the many medical calls firefighters attend.
• Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sports Lana Popham, asking for support for a plan to build a performing arts centre in downtown Langley. The City is considering land it owns in the centre of town for such a project.
• Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth was going to talk to the mayor and councillors about the future of the Langley RCMP detachment, as the Township pursues a division of the single Langley force into two detachments, for City and Township separately.
The meetings are short and don’t result in immediate decisions, Pachal noted. But it’s an opportunity to make face-t0-face contacts.
“It’s about planting that seed,” said Pachal.
Some of the issues aren’t strictly issues of municipal politicians, like the school site issue.
“We know that we’re going to need expanded schools, and a new school site,” said Pachal.
That’s an issue for the Ministry of Education at the Langley School Board, but Pachal said the City is looking to see if, as it develops, it can connect the district with developers who can provide land for another school, possibly in an urban area.
There’s zero open, unused land suitable for a school in the City now, Pachal noted, so it has to come from an area being redeveloped.