Prince George, B.C.- The annual  meeting  and conference of the North Central Local Government Association is being  held in Terrace this week  under a theme of “Stronger Together”.

While  several delegates  from the City of Prince George and the Regional District of Fraser Fort George  have already made their way to the Annual General Meeting,  the work  of  electing  a new executive and Directors at Large  and  voting on resolutions isn’t slated to  take place until  tomorrow.  In the meantime,  delegates are  taking tours of some of the major  projects in the region and attending  a variety of  workshops and  sessions  dealing with everything from moving energy across  the  region, to hearing from the Independent Investigations Office.

There are 25 resolutions  to be  dealt with tomorrow,  including one  to  address a  problem that has surfaced in many rural communities,  helicopter emergency medical  service.

The resolution, put forth  by the City of Terrace, it points to the recent  report  from the BC Forest Safety Ombudsman’s report on Helicopter Emergency Medical Services.  That report  concluded  rural communities are “negatively affected by an inadequate emergency transportation system.”

The resolution calls for the NCLGA  to lobby the Provincial Government to ” adopt the BC Forest Safety Ombudsman recommendations on “Helicopter Emergency Medical Services” including mandating a legislated one-hour timeline for every resident of the Province to have access to Trauma 3 Level of care.”

There are a couple of other issues  that  will be presented which have been previously raised as a concern  in Prince George.   One of them, is illegal dumping.

Presented by the  Peace River District , the resolution details that  illegal dumping of waste on private and crown land continues to be an issue across the Province “resulting in unsightly, unsanitary and potentially dangerous refuse deposits in natural rural areas that should be protected and preserved for public enjoyment in ‘supernatural British Columbia’”  The resolution notes that  because  the issue crosses the jurisdiction of  a number of  Provincial  Ministries, that  the Provincial government be lobbied  to  designate a single  Ministry to deal with the issue and that  there be enough staffing to address the issue  throughout B.C.

Resolutions which  may be endorsed  during the  NCLGA  conference  will then be forwarded to  the Union of B.C. Municipalities for possible endorsement by that group  before being  presented to the Provincial Government.