Nathan Cullen, Minister of Municipal Affairs delivered an engaging and heartfelt address to delegates earlier today. Minister Cullen announced a $10 million program to support local governments and modern Treaty First Nations by making data available to help inform decisions and assess progress toward reducing emissions and using a climate lens to review actions taken in local land use planning.
Cullen said the Complete Communities Program will be rolled out in the new year, and thanked UBCM for helping the Ministry to develop it.
The Minister also thanked local government officials for all that they do to serve their communities and in particular their work in facing the disasters of the last year. Cullen said, “the list of expectations on you continue to grow, municipal agendas would be unrecognizable from 20 years ago.”
The Minister reviewed some of the work done in the last few years including a new oath of office, code of conduct policies, and addressing the removal of officials charged with indictable offences. He also referenced funding for areas including housing, CleanBC and Build Back Better – “all historic levels of spending because the crises are historic.”
Regarding housing, the Minister appreciated that local governments are permitting and developing more housing than ever before. He referenced the joint work with UBCM on streamlining the development approval process and making public hearings more effective and efficient.