Municipal councillors, regional district directors, business leaders and provincial parliamentarians descended upon Whistler for the 2014 Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Convention from September 22 to 26.
Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine was one of the many in attendance for several days of discussions on provincial issues, where hundreds of resolutions were debated relating to the future of B.C, including natural resource management, environmental issues and affordable housing.
Mayor Raine said the week was very busy with meetings and convention business scheduled from 7 a.m. until late each day.
With so many events and forums taking place over the week, Raine said he tried to focus on attending events relevant to Sun Peaks, such as sessions on rural health.
Raine had the opportunity to meet with representatives from B.C. Emergency Services to discuss the possibilities of ambulance services becoming available in Sun Peaks.
The crux of the discussions revolved around whether a part-time ambulance service could be operated under the umbrella of Sun Peaks Fire Rescue.
“We have firefighters already trained in driving emergency vehicles, why not give them extra training so they could operate an ambulance as well?” Raine said. “If someone has to be transported, we could use resources already in the community. Instead of keeping someone stabilized until an ambulance arrives, they could already be on their way to hospital.”
Raine said there were many issues and grey areas that would need to be worked through, however he was optimistic.
“It was a good meeting, and I think a lot of smaller communities are raising similar issues.”
Raine also joined a group of Resort Municipality representatives to meet with Minister for Jobs, Tourism and Skill Training, Shirley Bond MLA to discuss the future of resort municipality funding.
“In that meeting, the minister was pretty clear that funds until 2017 are capped, although she thought some of the smaller municipalities, (including Sun Peaks), were showing a great return on investment, and that there may be some changes to the distribution of funds (after 2017),” Raine said.
[CE1]Pic – Premier Christy Clark addressed delegates at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities Convention.
What did you think of this story?
Your feedback after we publish a story helps ensure we're always improving our reporting to better serve you.
