Regional directors will be giving consideration to meetings with provincial cabinet ministers in conjunction with the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention in September.
At the July 16 qathet Regional District committee of the whole meeting, directors reviewed a letter from premier John Horgan, inviting the board to set up meetings with himself or his cabinet prior to the convention. This year, rather than face-to-face meetings, the meetings will be held via teleconference.
At the committee meeting, Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne asked if this would be the appropriate time to request meetings with various ministers.
Committee chair George Doubt said he thinks it would.
Gisborne said last year the regional district requested a meeting with the minister of transportation and one of the topics suggested, and dropped, was in relation to public safety at Springbrook Road and Highway 101. Gisborne said he’d like to make a motion that the regional district book a meeting with the minister of transportation in regard to that area of road.
Doubt said there was a motion on the floor to receive the letter from the premier so it should be dealt with first. The motion to receive the letter carried.
On the motion to meet with the minister regarding Springbrook Road, Electoral Area A director and board chair Patrick Brabazon said he was reluctant to cherry-pick with this particular motion. Brabazon said Gisborne was correct in that the matter was dropped from last year’s meeting with the minister because the regional district was allotted a certain number of subjects, and that one “didn’t make the grade.”
“It may well make the grade this year, but until we come up with a regional district position on what we want to talk about, I don’t want to submit individual requests until we know what we are talking about and where we are going,” said Brabazon.
Doubt asked Brabazon how he proposed the regional district come up with the list.
Brabazon said the regional district has lots of time. He said other than Gisborne, none of the directors had come to the committee meeting prepared to discuss the teleconference meetings. Brabazon said the regional district has the board meeting at the end of the month and there is a committee of the whole meeting in August where this matter could be considered.
“We should come in prepared to discuss it,” said Brabazon. “I’m reluctant to pull things out of the air like this.”
Doubt said the committee had three choices. He said Gisborne’s motion could be approved, it could be defeated, or it could be referred to a later date where the board can consider all meetings and ideas.
Brabazon said he would make a motion to refer to the July board meeting.
Gisborne said he would like to have some clarification from Brabazon about what he means by the statement that the matter didn’t make the grade.
Brabazon said what he meant was it didn’t make the grade.
Doubt said if the committee passed the motion to refer, it would provide the opportunity for directors to get their suggestions for meetings with the ministers in for whatever meetings they are going to request.
Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall said last year, directors sent their requests to corporate officer Michelle Jones. He asked if it would be appropriate, prior to the board meeting, to email those requests to her. Jones indicated that would be appropriate.
The committee voted in favour of referring the decisions on ministerial meetings to the July regional board meeting.
