By Don Urquhart, Times-Chronicle
Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff reflects on the events of 2021 and what this year may hold in store.
What was the most memorable event for you in 2021?
For me personally my most memorable moment was on July 13 when my first grandson was born; to me that was the highlight of my year!
What is your assessment of Osoyoos’ growth and development during the past year?
We have had in the Town of Osoyoos 58 new businesses open last year – some of them are new, some of them have changed ownership and that’s a pretty monumental number quite frankly for a town this size. So that kind of shows you that there are businesses operating here and that they are doing better than might be expected during this tough season.
We have a better option of dealing with things I think because we are a resort municipality, one of 14 in the province. Four of us, Ucluelet, Tofino, Harrison Hot Springs and Osoyoos, are based more on summer visitors than the other 10 which are more winter ski resorts and those ones depend a lot on not only out of province but out of country visitors. Those of us within the province in the summertime are more fortunate than the other ones because despite all the problems we had a fair amount of visitors come from within our province.
What were the most challenging aspects of 2021?
That would be the heat, the drought, the flooding, the fires and COVID, and that’s quite a lot to have in one year and two for COVID. But those are all things that we have to deal with on a daily basis and unfortunately, it has taken away from some of the other things that we might have spent more time on.
We’re now looking at how do we make sure that people have the opportunity to get the latest information and we do that through a local EOC, Emergency Operation Centre, and we work with the regional district for the emergency social services because they have that information they collated and we’re all involved, everyone in the regional district. One of the things that we try to do is make sure people have the most up-to-date information, certainly our town employees.
But those are things that we have to deal with everywhere and we just need to be aware of listening to people, supporting people, helping one another, being respectful of others and trying to get through this because from one day to the next we’re not quite sure what’s happening; things change so often.
I’m on calls every two weeks with Interior Health and the mayors in the area where we get up-to-date information. I think we’re doing a good job and you know we just have to deal with it on a daily basis but quite frankly when I come in I always chat with the CAO and what are the important issues and what’s going on and how we can deal with things. I have a very good relationship with him and with the town directors and that’s very helpful.
How would you grade yourself and council in dealing with these challenges?
I think we’ve been very proactive in trying to keep up to date on things and making sure that we pay attention to the latest information and I feel comfortable that we’re doing a good job. You can’t just expect the local government or the provincial or the federal government to solve all the problems; we all have to do this together.
With the town turning 75 what do you think the founders of Osoyoos would think about it?
I think probably that the town’s founders would be quite happy with what’s going on. It’s a great place to come and visit; we are certainly high on the list of places that people like to come and spend some time.
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned through the pandemic?
Listen, support, help each other, show respect, be involved and I think there are so many people that are great volunteers in this town and we really value that it’s a real asset. And also shop local, support local; it’s one of the things we do very well here and I think that is very helpful to all of our businesses and to all of the people who live and work here. I think that’s really important.
What was the most satisfying aspect of 2021?
Quite frankly I think we have a really good team working here. We work well together, we appreciate each other, we respect each other and I think that’s an important thing and it makes me happy that our council, we all get along, we don’t always agree but that’s okay. We do really try to look at what’s best for our town and what’s best for the people living here.
What would you like to see for Osoyoos in 2022?
I don’t know, a little calmer attitude maybe. Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to deal with all of the issues that we’ve had to deal with for the last two years? I’m not sure that’s going to happen but you know what, we have to be positive and we have to work towards that and make sure that we are prepared.
What are the top three priorities in 2022?
Maintaining safe drinking water is a huge priority and I think we’ve been really good at looking at that and dealing with that.
I think we all need to work together and that means citizens and town staff and council to stay safe and be informed about health and COVID issues. Quite frankly, from what I’ve heard, we’re probably all going to be exposed to one of the COVID strains and so our job is to make sure that we’re really well prepared for that and that would be by being fully vaccinated and staying home and not feeling guilty about that if you are not well. Look after yourself and you then help to look after everybody else.
Food security is another big one that is really important in the South Okanagan now so when we see people having small farms and farmers markets and that type of thing and providing food that’s a really important thing. We’ve gotten really used to having any type of food at any time we want and so it’s a little disconcerting to go to the store and see it’s not available. I think we’re going to have to think carefully about having homegrown and looking at providing the right food that fits our climate. I think all those things are important to living our best life.
How will the town further reconciliation this year?
We are certainly aware of it and aware of it in everything we do, and anytime we can work together we do. We have a very good relationship with the OIB and with Chief Louie and we do work together along with Oliver and certainly, we will continue to talk with them and involve them. Working together, all of us is really important.
Will you be running for re-election?
I have a nine-month job left to do at this point and I’m not making any decisions one way or another and probably not until the summertime. I certainly don’t want to say one way or the other right now. I’m certainly enjoying my job and I like what I’m doing.
