2023

Whereas there is an increasing need for fire departments to attend traffic incidents; And whereas this is unfairly increasing the tax load on rural residents; And whereas continued downloading on volunteer fire departments is adding to the potential failure of these small departments as taxation costs are starting to overtake house insurance benefits: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Province to require ICBC to compensate fire departments for first responder attendance at traffic incidents at a per call out rate plus use of expendablesconsumables.

Whereas in November of 2019 the BC government introduced the Fuel Price Transparency Act to help bring transparency to transportation fuel pricing in the province; And whereas resulting BC Utilities Commission studies and data collection has found higher retail markup margins in specific rural markets, such as in March 2022 the BC Utilities Commissions Exploration Project 3, Retail Margins and Price Factors for Select cities including Golden, Revelstoke, Powell River, Sicamous, Whistler and Squamish, as well as stations in nearby cities found that sampled gas stations in those markets appe

Whereas resolution 2018-A4 Short-Term Vacation Rental Listing Platforms Responsibility in Compliance asked the Province to negotiate a province-wide agreement with Airbnb and other regionally-active short-term rental platforms to assist local governments with compliance checks, whereby the short-term rental STR platforms agree to require their hosts to provide proof of a valid business license, where applicable, in order to advertise using their service, was endorsed by UBCM; And whereas the provincial response was to continue to closely monitor the issue of STRs and their impact on comm

Whereas government funding programs such as the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and Building BC Community Housing Fund have been established to realize government priorities; And whereas local governments expend considerable effort and expense to prepare applications for government funding programs: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM work with the provincial government to review the granting process to improve efficiency and ensure its funding programs are adequately resourced so that shared objectives can be realized.

Whereas the Province of British Columbia provides a variety of funding and grants to local governments for programs that are not otherwise within the local government funding scope; And whereas grants usually provide initial financial support, however local governments are often left with the burden of carrying future operational costs at the expense of the taxpayer; And whereas a phased approach would decrease the financial burden to local governments and would allow local governments more time to determine the effectiveness of programs and if they should be continued: Therefore be it r

Whereas road maintenance contracts between the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure the Ministry and its contractors contain a requirement to develop 2-year summer road quantified maintenance plans the Road Maintenance Plans but the Ministry does not share the Road Maintenance Plans with local governments; And whereas the Ministry develops Infrastructure Improvement Priorities and Plans the Infrastructure Priorities but the Ministry does not share the Infrastructure Priorities with local governments until the Infrastructure Priorities are fully developed and funded: Therefore be

Whereas the Trans-Canada Highway is BCs primary southern east-west corridor and is essential for trade and travel; And whereas the 400-kilometre section of highway between Kamloops and the Alberta border is home of the most challenging terrain in Canada and is used by up to 12,000 vehicles a day; And whereas in 2021 the Province committed to 837 million over the next three years to allow traffic to move more safely and efficiently within the corridor, however, several projects identified in the Provincial plan are not yet underway, including the deteriorating RW Bruhn Bridge that poses si

Whereas the amount of time each commercial semi truck spends on the road, the weights they operate with, and the braking distances involved in stopping commercial semi trucks; And whereas the use of dash cams can encourage commercial truck driver accountability in adhering to safe driving practices and can be affordable insurance in providing undeniable evidence for the almost inevitable near misses that professional drivers contend with in doing their job: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Government of BC to review the feasibility of requiring all commercial semi-trucks as defi

Whereas BC Transit works in partnership with 59 local governments to provide transit service; And whereas regional transit system budgets are controlled by BC Transit and approved each year by local governments; And whereas BC Transit pays 46.69 of expenses for both urban and rural areas; And whereas rural areas have a higher costs than urban areas for operations, repairs, salary, and fuel as routes are longer and have less revenue due to lower ridership: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that BC Transits share of the expenses be increased for rural routes.

Whereas Section 331 of the Cannabis Control and Licensing Act indicates that the British Columbia Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch LCRB must not issue or amend a cannabis license without a positive recommendation of the affected local government or Indigenous nation; And whereas the Liquor Control and Licensing Act does not require the LCRB to receive a positive recommendation from an affected local government in order to issue or amend a liquor license; And whereas the public consultation requirements under Section 333 of the Cannabis Control and Licensing Act are seen to result in