FCM Meeting a Chance to Show P.G. In New Light
Tuesday, March 5, 2013 @ 3:57 AM
Prince George, B.C. – There will be more than 137 delegates and staff of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in Prince George for the balance of the week.
The FCM has set aside Thursday and Friday for Committee work, and a Board meeting on Saturday. This is the last huddle for the Directors in preparation for the annual general meeting, which will be held in Vancouver this year at the end of May.
City of Prince George Councillor Garth Frizzell is also an FCM Director, and has been the key player in the development of this event. He has managed to raise all the money necessary to cover the costs of the three days of meetings by landing support from corporate sponsors. He estimates the full tab to be in the $18 thousand dollar range.
The major issue on the table is crumbling infrastructure. According to Frizzell, there is a national need for $220 billion dollars in infrastructure funding. “In Prince George we don’t have a formal number,(for infrastructure funding) but estimates could run as high as $300 million” says Frizzell.
The FCM has presented a three pronged plan to the Federal Government, a plan the FCM hopes will address some of the infrastructure issues:
1. renewing the gas tax and indexing it,
2. establishing a new core economic infrastructure fund, and
3. renewing the Building Canada fund and dedicate its funds to municipalities.
The arrival of delegates from all over Canada will provide an opportunity for the City of Prince George to show itself in a new light. “It’s a chance to change perceptions” says Frizzell. While there may be a perception that Prince George is a wild, western frontier, crime riddled City ( courtesy of a national magazine’s ranking system) “We’re consciously making some efforts to show off Prince George.”
Delegates will be treated to a banquet that will connect with several northern municipalities. “They are going to leave here not only having visited Prince George, but knowing what the North is, and the relationships between municipalities that make us strong.” Frizzell says the North Central Local Government Association was invited to time it’s executive meeting at the same time as the FCM huddle in order to benefit from the interaction and opportunity to network. “FCM will be meeting with the NCLGA to deliver a briefing on the long term infrastructure program from a rural perspective and there will be a number of different meetings like that.”
There are tours that show the new, progressive Prince George. There will be a focus on the City’s downtown district energy system, the UNBC bio-energy system, the Northern Sport Centre, the Northern Cancer Centre, and of course, promote the 2015 Canada Winter Games. “When these Mayors and officials return home, we want them to be talking about what Prince George really is.”
The welcoming reception is set for tomorrow evening at the Two Rivers Art Gallery. Delegates have been invited to bring a stone from their community, a stone that will become part of piece of public art. Frizzell isn’t saying what kind of stone Prince George is bringing forward, but notes the delegate from Kamloops is bringing an amethyst, and a delegate from Vancouver has selected a stone from English Bay.
Comments
All I see in this is my taxes skyrocketing.
I would think that planning for infastructure costs down the road would be like saving a little in the kitty for a new furnace or car one day .Gee , who would have thunk the under ground piping system would get old .I guess you can’t turn a old worn out pipe into a architectul marval like the new police building.
“All I see in this is my taxes skyrocketing”
From the story “He has managed to raise all the money necessary to cover the costs of the three days of meetings by landing support from corporate sponsors”
Did you even read the article?
We will be providing a stoner from third and george…lol
Our dreams in action.
Cheers
I wonder why we want to keep showing Prince George in this positive light. Seems to me, those of us who like it here, like it because there’s so much to do and few line ups if any to do it. If these guys succeed in convincing everyone PG is the place to be, it could be paradise lost. Right now you can ride for miles in the back country and never see a soul. You can get to work fairly quickly. You can buy a house for a reasonable price. In short, you can have a pretty sweet life here if you like getting outdoors. Why would we want to encourage anyone to come here. I say let’s keep it for ourselves and let them have their traffic jams, smog, crowded ski slopes, crowded malls, etc.
Enjoy the air downtown. Courtesy of the weatherman with a high pressure system and the pulp mills which are still working away …… ;-)
Plaza 400
Current 24 hour PM10 average at 3pm = 42.5mg/m3
Current one hour PM10 average 84.7mg/m3
current one hour PM2.5 average 35.8mg/m3
And that is with everything in the City shut down other than the pulp mills, CN, and the occasional truck ….
I agree with you ski50. Just give us enough people to keep the population more or less steady … hover under 100,000 at the most for the greater PG area.
People in other parts of Canada think of Prince George the same way that residents of Prince George think about North Bay Ont., or Sarnia Ont. or maybe Crooked River Sask.
In other words, they don’t think about this City at all, and why should they?? I’m getting tired of this constant BS about how great this City is. It is just one of many Cities in Canada, trying to get by in spite of our elected representatives driving us into bankruptcy.
Lets keep in mind that while the City goes to the Federal Government to illicit money for infrastructure, they never mention the fact we need the money because we are poor managers, and spent all our tax dollars, on dumb projects, and huge borrowing.
To fix the infrastructure is going to cost tax payers big dollars, whether it comes from Federal, Provincial, or Municipal Governments. A tax dollar, is a tax dollar.
Are they coming to PG to see how Green runs a dictatorship and totally ignores the electorate?
Welcome to Crime Capital of Canada.
Are they coming to PG to see how Green runs a dictatorship and totally ignores the electorate?
Welcome to Crime Capital of Canada.
“show PG in a new light”
So the delegates are staying in Quesnel then ? Blacked out windows on the tour bus ? How are you going to keep them from seeing PG ?
at 8pm .. Plaza 400 pm10 24hr average = 54.4
PM2.5 = 22.2
PM10 oe hour averge is 105.8 …… ah, breathe in that fresh PG air downtown while you are out on the town folks …..
Don’t count chickens before they hatch …;-)
âIn Prince George we donât have a formal number,(for infrastructure funding)”
Why not? Would it not be prudent if we did?
Sort of like buying a vehicle and not comparing prices of operating over a 5 year period or 10 year period.
Only nerds do that, I suppose.
Wood Innovation Center Brian Fehr Baldy hughes and his involvement in purchasing a residential home and leasing it to NSRW society, under his # company in the Haldi area, west of Prince George. Having the L&M developers, City planners, Mayor and council permit rezoning and OCP amendments to pass a second time. Mr. Fehr’s property has been mixed up in Supreme Court Rulings with decisions made with the city. Again this property will see many residents in Prince George taking the city to court again. Business as usual????
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