WHEREAS community social services are vital to the health and well-being of thousands of British Columbians and provincial cuts have created a negative impact on families and communities; AND WHEREAS it is the right and responsibility of local governments to advocate on behalf of their citizens to other levels of government; AND WHEREAS the downloading of provincial responsibility for people in need onto local governments creates a strain on communities which were not consulted before the cuts: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Union of BC Municipalities, on behalf of its members, request that the provincial government consult with and provide local governments with the opportunity to participate in discussions related to those policy changes that have an affect on families and communities regarding social assistance and social safety net programs.
MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCES The Ministry of Human Resources MHR welcomes feedback from municipalities. Local government representatives always have the opportunity to bring their concerns, suggestions and ideas to local MLAs or to the Minister of Human Resources for consideration. MHR recently introduced a new position at our regional office levelCommunity Relations Service Quality Manager. With this new position, there is now a staff person in each of our five regional offices who is specifically responsible for establishing and maintaining effective, collaborative and constructive liaisons with community partners, other levels of government--including municipal governments--and other stakeholders. One of the duties of the position is to work with these partners to ensure community involvement and to establish services and programs for the region that are consistent with community needs. In addition, MHR staff are working directly with municipal representatives in several jurisdictions to address social issues affecting their communities. For example, MHR has made contributions towards the Vancouver Agreement, a partnership between the federal and provincial governments and the City of Vancouver to support economic, social and community development in Vancouver, with specific focus on the Downtown Eastside. MHR has also been invited to work with the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Womens Services, the municipality of Surrey, Surrey MLAs and other partners to review options for addressing social issues in that community under the proposed Surrey Solutions Project.