John Rustad, leader of the Official Opposition
John Rustad, Leader of the BC Conservatives spoke to delegates at the 2025 UBCM Convention about his priority issues for the province.
Articles about UBCM's annual Conventions.
Convention
Rethinking care for those in need
Julian Daly, CEO of Our Place shelter society in Victoria, discusses a strategic shift in addressing street disorder by prioritizing healthcare as the first response. Julian was a panelist on the Disordered Downtown session earlier in the week.
UBCM Executive election progress
Elections for the 2025-26 Executive are in process; seven positions have been decided.
The next President of UBCM will be Councillor Cori Ramsay (Prince George). Councillor Jenna Stoner (Squamish), Mayor Sarrah Storey (Fraser Lake), and Councillor Aimee Grice (Oliver) will be the First, Second and Third Vice Presidents respectively.
Province pauses Heritage Conservation Act changes
UBCM issued a press release this morning calling on the Province to pause progress on changes to the Heritage Conservation Act until meaningful consultation can be conducted with local governments.
Winners of the 2025 Community Excellence Awards
UBCM is pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Community Excellence Awards. These recipients stood out for going above and beyond the purposes of local government in BC. They are innovative, provide direct benefit to their community, and demonstrate leadership in their field.
Modest growth & big challenges: the road ahead for BC’s economy
Panelists at the plenary session convened around the state of BC economics. Between the Minister of Finance, two economists and the CEO of the Vancouver airport, the bottom line was that there is no quick way out of this structural financial situation.
This didn’t happen in the last six months, and it didn’t happen because of Donald Trump, said David Williams, VP of Policy for the Business Council of BC. It’s a structural issue stemming from shrinking revenue and expenditures growing way too quickly.
A conversation about involuntary care with Dr. Vigo and Mayor Krog
Among the interrelated complex social issues being discussed at Convention – street disorder, housing, homelessness, mental health and addiction, crime – is the healthcare policy around involuntary care. Dr. Daniel Vigo, the Province’s chief advisor on toxic drugs and concurrent disorders, spoke at the session Disordered Downtown: Rethinking Care for Those in Need. We caught up with him and Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog afterwards to learn more.
UBCM, BCUMC calling on BC to prioritize supportive housing
Within 14 of BC’s largest communities more than 21,000 households are on the wait list for BC Housing support. More than 3,000 homes are on hold in various states of completion because they’re waiting on provincial funding.
EDMA regulations implementation pushed to early 2027
The Province has announced that the timeline is being extended to introduce a new regulation for local authorities, under the Emergency and Disaster Management Act. The Honourable Kelly Greene, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, speaking at a Convention session, Climate Hazards & Housing: Risk, Resilience, and Local Action, delivered the announcement that new regulation will not take effect until early 2027.
Special resolutions up for debate Wednesday
Every year the UBCM Executive sponsors special resolutions that address priority issues. This year they get at some of the specific areas where coordination is needed to respond to complex social issues that are beyond the jurisdiction of any one body.
These resolutions will be individually considered by the membership at the first resolutions session on Wednesday morning, including one extraordinary resolution that proposes a new framework to evaluate resolutions in future years.