qathet Regional District’s committee of the whole is recommending the regional board arrange meetings with provincial cabinet ministers at the 2022 Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention in September.
At the June 16 committee meeting, there was a recommendation that a meeting be scheduled with minister of health Adrian Dix to request a review of the emergency medical assistants licensing board policy change that increases cost and decreases accessibility to local governments providing first responder services.
The second requested meeting is one with minister of environment and climate change strategy George Heyman to request the minister initiate the process towards eliminating the use of expanded polystyrene in the marine environment.
The committee also recommended that a meeting be scheduled with minister of transportation and infrastructure Rob Fleming to request the minister enforce maintenance and time standards, and allocate sufficient resources to resolve deficiencies in highway maintenance, including ensuring that contractors have the equipment needed to address rural road conditions.
Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said he was not surprised with the third request because the maintenance of public right of ways is challenging. He said he had an additional item he would like to submit.
“My understanding is we can book three topics with each minister and I see that there is only the one for the ministry of transportation,” said Gisborne. He wanted to make an addition to the motion that the ministry allocate sufficient resources to address the Spring Brook Road safety concerns.
“The matter of Spring Brook Road has come up multiple times in the past,” said Gisborne. “Every now and then there is another accident. There is a right of way that comes from McCausland Road. One of the challenges with discussions with local management from the highways department has been insufficient resources and not enough funding. Sometimes people are asking for an additional left-hand turning lane. That is apparently quite cost-prohibitive and would require annexing some property on the other side of the road.”
Gisborne said one of the ideas that have been floated around is one-way access from McCausland Road and pulling out of Spring Brook Road would be an exit only.
“I think that would require more resources and a bit more effort by the ministry of transportation,” said Gisborne. “Based on the meeting with the minister, we can either get some funding or an official statement about their long-term plans. It’s quite challenging, because when the ferry traffic is coming toward town, if someone stops on the highway to try and turn left, the traffic will get backed up towards the golf course. Anything we can do to try and relieve those safety concerns, I’m in favour of.”
The committee voted in favour of Gisborne’s amendment and passed the motion for the requested meetings with the ministers at the UBCM.
