Council heads to UBCM with long wish list

Attending the annual Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) conference is always beneficial for municipal leaders, but it’s even more important in 2017 with a new NDP government in charge after 16 years of Liberal rule in this province, says Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff.

McKortoff and councillors Carol Youngberg, Jim King and Mike Campol, along with Chief Administrative Officer Barry Romanko, will be heading to the Vancouver Convention Centre – along with more than 2,000 municipal leaders from across the province – for the 2017 conference from Sept 25-29.

Veteran councillor C.J. Rhodes won’t be attending and will ensure the town runs properly while his colleagues are away and he also owns and operates a local equipment rental business and it’s difficult for him to be away for an extended period of time, said McKortoff.

The UBCM provides the rare opportunity for mayors, councillors and senior administrators to meet face-to-face with provincial ministers to discuss key issues, said McKortoff.

Every year, the Town of Osoyoos sends a “wish list” to the provincial government detailing requests to meet with certain ministers to address key concerns relevant to this community and region, she said.

Romanko has officially forwarded that list to the provincial government and the list includes a request to meet with six new ministers who were recently sworn in by Premier John Horgan and the NDP government.

McKortoff, who will be attending her third UBCM conference as Osoyoos Mayor after attending several as a town councillor, said the annual conference allows municipal leaders to address very important issues they might otherwise never get to address with the leaders of this province.

“It’s very important that we get meet directly with the respective ministers and have the opportunity to talk to them directly about certain concerns,” she said. “It’s especially important this year with a new government and a new set of ministers now in place … I think it’s very important that we get to meet with them directly.”

With so many municipal leaders wanting to speak with the various ministers, conference organizers limit the number of requests for each municipality and they must submit a prioritized list of ministers they would like to meet to talk about key concerns, said McKortoff.

The Town of Osoyoos has submitted a wish list to meet with six different ministers over the course of the five-day conference.

They have requested to meet with Minister of Health Adrian Dix, the former leader of the B.C. NDP Party.

Both the Town of Osoyoos and Town of Oliver have serious concerns about the future of South Okanagan General Hospital (SOGH) and want assurances this hospital will remain open, said McKortoff.

They also want to discuss incentives to attract new doctors to this region and pay equity to ensure Emergency Room physicians at SOGH are paid the same as doctors in Penticton and Kelowna, said McKortoff

They also hope to discuss other health issues, such as the opioid crisis and having the government commit to a rural health strategy across the province, she said.

The town has requested to meet with Lisa Beare, the new minister of tourism, arts and culture, specifically in relation to continuing to provide Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funding that has been provided to Osoyoos and the province’s other 13 designated resort municipalities, said McKortoff.

For the past several years, the town has received more than $400,000 annually from a provincial RMI fund to spend on infrastructure projects and community improvement projects deemed beneficial to promoting tourism and attracting tourists.

“We want to make very clear how important this funding is to all 14 resort municipalities and why we need this funding to continue,” she said.

A third request has been forwarded to meet with Minister of Public Safety and Attorney General Mike Farnworth.

“We would like to discuss RCMP staffing levels, the new contract with the RCMP in Osoyoos and all of the issues related to when a town like ours goes over 5,000 population (which happened earlier this year in the new Canadian census) and we’re on the hook for 70 per cent of policing costs instead of 30 per cent,” said McKortoff.

Another request has been sent to meet with Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Judy Darcy.

“This is a new ministry and we would like to discuss mental health services in Osoyoos and Oliver,” said McKortoff. “We would like to get a feel for what this new ministry is about and provide input in any way we can.”

The town has also requested to meet with Minister of Education Rob Fleming, the man who visited Osoyoos on numerous occasions during public meetings when it appeared Osoyoos Secondary School was going to close last spring.

McKortoff said she and members of council will want assurances that the Rural Education Enhancement Fund (REEF) that was introduced by the Liberal government to keep OSS and several other rural schools open will continue.

McKortoff is confident Fleming and the NDP government will make this issue a priority throughout the course of their mandate.

“I don’t think we will have any problem moving forward on this,” she said.

It’s crucial schools in rural communities remain open and there has never been any indication the NDP government or Fleming will allow trustees to vote in favour of closing rural schools in the future, she said.

The sixth and final request is to meet with Minister and Transportation and Infrastructure Claire Travena.

Key concerns relate to the fact Main Street in Osoyoos is a provincial highway – Highway 3 – and falls under the jurisdiction of Travena’s ministry, said McKortoff.

“The reality is our Main Street is a provincial highway and we need our main road repaved once every few years due to the high heavy truck traffic,” she said.

Any major infrastructure project along Main  Street, including a 2018 project to replace major storm sewers, should also be co-ordinated between the provincial government and the town as it will affect other planned infrastructure projects designated for town-owned streets, she said.

“If we have to tear up roads and streets and pipes and that sort of thing along Main Street, we just feel we should be involved and everything should be co-ordinated with the town,” she said.

The issue of illegal commercial signs along Hwy. 97 between Osoyoos and Oliver continues to be a big issue with many local residents complaining on a regular basis, said McKortoff.

The town has a sign bylaw and enforces it strictly, but the provincial government hasn’t done a good job of enforcing rules and regulations when illegal signs are placed along Hwy. 97, she said.

“We get a lot of people coming into our office, many of them yelling and screaming, about these highway signs,” she said.

McKortoff will also head to Vancouver one day early as she’s part of the Hwy. 3 Coalition, which features the mayors of several cities and towns in B.C. situated along the provincial highway who work together to promote tourism efforts in the southern interior of the province.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times