Whereas the RCMP are responsible for enforcing parking regulations in rural areas which takes policing resources away from other priorities; And whereas the provincial response to UBCM Resolution 2014-B102 requesting that regional districts be granted the authority to enforce parking regulations within their boundaries indicated that further research was required prior to undertaking any policy change: Therefore be it resolved that the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General jointly review parking enforcement in the rural areas to either provide regional districts with the authority to enforce parking regulations within their boundaries or to adequately resource rural detachments to ensure that community safety issues related to illegal parking are addressed.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure Government is supportive of exploring the current parking and enforcement regulations on provincial road within regional districts. Currently the BC Motor Vehicle Act MVA provides municipalities with the authority to enforce parking regulations within their boundaries. The same authority is not provided to regional districts. Research is required to understand the basis for the difference and determine whether there were any specific reasons for excluding the regional districts when the original legislation was enacted. Based upon the research, further consultation and policy analysis may be required before considering the change. Ministry staff are undertaking work on this issue, to identify the types of operational and safety impacts, as well as changes to the MVA, that would be required to allow regional districts the ability to regulate and enforce parking restrictions. This work will also explore the ability of regional districts to assess and enforce parking regulations within their communities.