qathet Regional District’s finance committee is recommending the regional board direct staff to engage an economic development consultant to organize an economic development workshop.
The initiative came out of the regional district’s strategic planning session in October 2020. According to a staff report, the consultant for the planning session captured conversation surrounding economic development and summarized by saying there appeared to be a strong interest in exploring a workshop.
The staff report stated the intent of a workshop would be to have directors come away with a combined group understanding of what economic development is and potentially, in the context of the qRD, what that means and how it can be applied.
At the February 17 finance committee meeting, in contemplating a motion to retain an economic development consultant, Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said based on his recollection of the regional district’s strategic planning session, if he recalled correctly, he thinks the discussion around economic development doesn’t fit with what the regional district can do.
“We can’t provide funding to private enterprise and we can’t relax land use regulations to stimulate economic growth when we have limited land use regulations,” said Gisborne. “The service was created for funding for the Powell River Regional Economic Development Society, which no longer exists.
“I believe the concern repeatedly brought up is we hand out grants using the economic development service and sometimes the grant applications have very little to do with economics.”
Gisborne said the regional district’s economic development service is just a grant-in-aid service paid for by electoral areas A, C and D. He said Area B, which doesn’t have an economic development function, pays through grants-in-aid. He said he didn’t believe qRD needed the economic development service.
“I really don’t see the need to pay a consultant $5,000 to have an economic development workshop,” said Gisborne. “I’m wondering what it will accomplish.
“My understanding from the strategic planning session was that it wasn’t a big priority. I don’t see the need to have such a session, especially if it’s going to cost $5,000 to bring in a professional. If we want to have a discussion and do it on our own, I’m not averse to that.”
Electoral Area A director and board chair Patrick Brabazon said the economic development service, as the regional district created it, was flawed from the beginning. He said if directors are talking about regional economic development, they began by including only three out of five electoral areas, and leaving out the municipality. He said he can see some value in discussing the matter if there is a facilitator, but he would want a true discussion of regional economic development.
“If it’s simply to be an electoral area economic development service, that’s one thing, but if we’re going to call it regional economic development, we need to know what we wish to do with it,” said Brabazon. “What we are doing, I think, is more economic sustainability. We are funding existing groups rather than developing new groups. I’m quite willing to go with a workshop and get a facilitator in, but I think everything has to be on the table.”
City director and finance committee chair George Doubt said he thinks economic development lends itself really well to a regional-based strategy, because if there is economic development that happens in the electoral areas, it benefits the city, and if there is economic development in the city, it benefits the areas of the regional district.
“It’s best to spread the effort and the costs of economic development over the entire area, rather than focusing on small areas,” said Doubt. “The kind of discussion that director Brabazon is talking about, about the possibility of an economic development service that covers the whole region, would be a useful thing.”
Electoral Area C director Clay Brander said economic development is a tricky issue and nobody seems to be clamouring for it.
“It doesn’t seem to be a high priority but part of that might be just because we don’t have a clear definition of what it is or what we can potentially do with it,” said Brander. “I’ll support this workshop concept so we can get a good idea as to what is happening.”
Electoral Area D director Sandy McCormick said she is a little worried that economic development is becoming a catch-all phrase for everything, including economic sustainability. In terms of creating new opportunities, she said she does not see that as a role for local government.
“It’s not our role to create jobs, but to create a culture or a climate in which jobs are created,” said McCormick. “That is where I would like to focus in terms of the discussion on economic development.”
She said she is interested in what Doubt had to say because she would love to work with the City of Powell River on a truly regional economic development service. She said she was pleased to hear there is possibly some interest on the part of the city in doing that as well.
McCormick asked if the city is interested in partnering with the regional district on this initiative.
Doubt said he is and he thinks the city has expressed interest in that for quite some time. He said the city’s response would depend on what the electoral area directors want to do. He said there has to be a willing partner to have a partnership.
“This is not the first time I’ve said at a meeting that I believe the city would like to be involved in a partnership, regionally, for economic development,” added Doubt. It would be a cost-effective thing to do.”
The finance committee voted unanimously to engage a consultant to conduct an economic development workshop.
