Whereas the Local Government Act legislates the Public Hearing process and broadly provides for submissions to be made by anyone in the public having an interest in the matter or the property; And whereas Councils must consider all submissions made with respect to the public interest in the zoning, rezoning, OCP or OCP amendment without an ability to verify the validity of submissions made electronically: Therefore be it resolved that the Province bring forth an amendment to the Local Government Act which would assist local governments with the ability to verify the legitimacy of a submission where there is strong reason to believe that the submissions are false and dishonest and made to undermine the integrity and purpose of the Public Hearing process and UBCM work with the province to understand best practices.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing British Columbias land use planning system is based on legislation, policies and processes that support community-based decisions through an emphasis on local decision making. Council or board members need to consider not only the oral and written submissions made at a public hearing but also their local governments staff reports to ensure their decisions strike an appropriate balance among community interests and existing land use objectives and policies. Council and board members are ultimately accountable to the electorate for the choices they make. The existing legislation regarding public hearings ensures that community members and all persons who believe that their interest in property is affected are provided the opportunity to contribute to the discussion about decisions made by local elected officials. The Province recognizes that communication environments are evolving and consideration could be given to a future dialogue with UBCM regarding the development of best practices for public hearing procedures and how much weight in its deliberations elected officials would give to potentially dishonest submissions during the public hearing process.