McBride Council….What Now?
McBride, B.C.-The Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Peter Fassbender, says his Ministry team is working on the options available to deal with the situation in McBride, where three Councillors resigned on Friday, leaving the Village’s Mayor and remaining councillor unable to carry on business because they don’t have a quorum.
There are two provisions under the Community Charter for dealing with this kind of situation. One would be to give the remaining Mayor and Council the authority to move ahead until a by-election is called, the other would see the Province appoint representatives until a by-election can be held.
Minister Fassbender is not ready to say which option he will choose “In the meantime the remaining Councillor and Mayor along with the Administrator must ensure that residents continue to receive the services that they require” says Minister Fassbender “Any decisions that they make that would result in any future financial liabilities would be made by the Council once a by- election has been held and a quorum has been restored to the community.”
Although he is calling on the Mayor (Loranne Martin ) and remaining Councillor ( Rick Thompson) to ensure the residents continue to receive the services they require , that doesn’t mean he is giving the pair quorum status “I want the residents to know that the expectation is that the Mayor and the Councillor and the Administrator and staff in McBride will continue to provide the essential services that the community needs. They have the fiduciary duty to carry on, providing essential services, but they have to be careful that any commitments they make have liability associated with it in the future, so in the short term, I would hope the Mayor and remaining Councillor and the Administrator will continue to make sure that the water works, and that the sewer continues to operate and the other essential services (continue) that’s not an onerous task, it’s pretty clear what has to be done day in and day out.”
As for the long term? “I’m loath to make a commitment one way or the other at the moment until I get a briefing from my staff as to what those options are and what the elements of those are and what the commitment would be” says Fassbender.
The full briefing on the situation will include examining some letters which are being sent to him from former councillors and others in the community. Minister Fassbender can’t say when a decision will be made on the course of action “I can assure you that as soon as I am in a position to do something that is appropriate and maintains the stability in the community I will do that.”
Prince George Robson Valley MLA Shirley Bond says she too is concerned about restoring stability to the community “What I’m concerned about is growing the economy in McBride, looking at how we grapple with tough issues that exist in the Robson Valley. We need to have some stability there to do that. So while I’m not privy to the specific details, what matters most to me is that we figure out what the next steps are, make sure we’re supporting the community and then get down to business making sure we can support the community and the residents there.”
This is the second time in as many years, that the Ministry has had to take steps in a community because of a loss of quorum. In 2015, the District of Lantzville lost quorum when four councillors resigned. In that case the Minister issued an order so that the remaining members of the council constituted quorum until a by-election was held to fill the vacancies.
Comments
The management and staff can continue to run the services of McBride. Providing day to day services are not done by the Mayor of Council.
Anything that requires a vote of course or requires Council to approve will not get done until this issue is settled on way or another.
Growing the economy of McBride is only part of the problem. We need to grow the entire economy of North Central BC. Cache Creek to Prince Rupert, Kitimat, with a few exceptions, is a wasteland.
The interior has been crippled by losing thousands of jobs over the past 10/20 years, and for all intents and purposes is on life support.
“Prince George Robson Valley MLA Shirley Bond says she too is concerned about restoring stability to the community “What I’m concerned about is growing the economy in McBride, looking at how we grapple with tough issues that exist in the Robson Valley. We need to have some stability there to do that.”
Shirley, and her government, have been parroting the “growing the economy” mantra, and grappling with that same issue, for 16 years now. I am surprised she even mentioned the word “economy” given this government’s abject failure to deliver on anything to do with “jobs and the economy” (it’s their go to slogan in past election campaigns, don’t you know). Anyone remember their “jobs plan”? Hmmm… I wonder how that is going!
John Horgan and the NDP are completely devoid of anything resembling an election platform and are even more lacking in an economic plan!
So, what would you suggest be done to grow the economy in the Robson Valley?
Would you perhaps shut down the Valemount Glacier Destination Plan for starters? Shut down the Trans Mountain pipeline that already exists and has been in place in the area for decades? Reopen non viable sawmills?
If you have any grand, or even half decent suggestions, give Shirley a call!
BC has been at the top of the country in job growth since May or even earlier. Small communities are hurt hard when a large employer leaves, like Tumbler Ridge they have to either fold up or find other ways to derive an income. Mackenzie is wood and wood fibre as an employer. The mine probably helped a bit but there just is no other business to keep people employed once the large players close up and move to other locales as they were kept in business by the employees and family of that large player
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