Thursday, December 15, 2011

Regional News Wrap - Dec 15th edition

In Prince George:

* PG Free Press congratulates Mayor Shari Green for her new Select Committee on Business (see here).  However, the City of PG will be the recipient of a lawsuit from Haldi Rd residents after PG Council adopted a bylaw to permit a women's recovery centre with next to little notice to the public - see here.  PG Free Press wonders where Cariboo-PG MP Dick Harris spends his time...? They have the answer here.  Finally - Macleans' looks at the top 100 Cities in Canada and who's the most dangerous City in Canada...? See the full list here.  But for the record in BC - Prince George made #1, Victoria made #2, Kelowna made #7, Surrey made #10, Nanaimo made #12, Chillwack/New West made #14/15 respectively, Kamloops made #16, Vancouver made #18, and Langley Township made #20.  Prince George RCMP take issue with the #1 ranking - see here and here.  Country wide - Nunavut was the most dangerous place to be in Canada, BC was sixth dangerous with Ontario being the most safest place to be in Canada

In Williams Lake:

* CRD Board: Not enough time to discuss Natural Resource Roads Act - see here.  Editor's Note - Like the Ministry of Natural Resource Operations... I wonder what the CRD was up to given the time to comment on this was from Oct 17th until Dec 15th?? Just asking...

* Ad-Hoc Committee seeks input on locations for dog park - see here.  Editor's Note - I believe the time to have properly discussed this was when the public was discussing the Parks, Trails and Outdoor Recreation Master Plan or PTORMP.  Is the City of Williams Lake now willing to re-open the OCP after its' adoption??  Sure sounds like it...

* TNG Tribal Chair Joe Alphonse/Xeni Gwet'in Chief Marilyn Baptiste comment on proposed changes to length of terms for First Nations' Bands - see here

* Independent MLA Bob Simpson comments on what he and his staff have been up to since the BC Legislature adjourned the Fall Session in November - see here

* Lots of letters discussing the "New Prosperity" mine proposal - see here, here and here
* WL Sportsmens' Assocation President expresses concern about delay to pass new Federal Law to eliminate the Gun Registry - see here
* Local business owner complains that the City of Williams Lake takes too long to issue a building permit - see here.  Editor's Note - not the kind of positive press WL Mayor Kerry Cook and her Council needed, just after the recent election and also her comments on the new contract between the City/CRD for Building Inspectors which is partially likely as to why this owner waited so long for the building permit.  Still - the City should look into this, apologize for the delay and tighten things up to ensure a repeat of this situation doesn't occur again...

In Kamloops:

* Kamloops Councillor Donovan Cavers' proposal for standing votes at Kamloops Council meetings' was resoundly defeated in a 8-1 vote.  Meanwhile - Kamloops Daily News editor and former Kamloops Mayor Mel Rothenberger takes both Kamloops Councillors' Donovan Cavers/Arjun Singh to task for some of their proposals at recent Kamloops Council meetings' - see here

In BC:

* UBCM names members' to the new RCMP Management Committee that'll oversee the new RCMP Contract - see the press release from UBCM here.  Our local City Administrator Brian Carruthers was not appointed to the Committee.  In fact, the Committee seems to be dominated by elected or appointed officials in the Metro Vancouver or Vancouver Island areas.  Our closest reps is Mayor Lori Ackerman of Fort St John, Mayor Peter Milobar of Kamloops and Area 'C' Director Grace McGregor of the Kootenay Boundary Regional District

Also - UBCM Executive at their Nov 24th/25th meeting received a briefing from Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender on status of the new RCMP Contract.  Approval-in-Principle was given, subject to approval by Federal/Provincial Cabinets (Executive Councils').  Local governments to receive briefings in 1st Quarter (Jan 1st - March 31st) of 2012.  Local governments above 5,000 in population to be askedpopulation would be given until March 31, 2012 to determine whether or not they wished to sign a Municipal Police Unit Agreement with the Province for RCMP services. He (Fassbender) pointed out that the Province is developing a Companion Document to go with the new RCMP agreement and intends to hold a technical briefing on the new RCMP agreement for local governments

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