Gibsons council has returned from the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference having netted some discussions with ministry officials, but no significant new funding for Coast projects.
"Other than the pocket change that was on the floor in the main room, there isn't a lot of money to be had from the province these days," said Mayor Barry Janyk.
In a meeting with Attorney General Mike de Jong, Janyk said he was able to thank de Jong for the recent appointment of a permanent provincial court judge in Sechelt, but also express concerns about the existing backlog of cases in the court.
Janyk said he is satisfied with the province's plan to cut down on the backlog by cutting down on the amount of lag time between when suspects are booked for a crime and when they are given a chance for a bail hearing.
Also on the schedule for Gibsons was a meeting with Health Minister Kevin Falcon. Janyk and council requested the meeting to get some provincial government attention for the permissive tax exemption the Town provides to Christenson Village. The Town has been seeking to rein in some of its tax exemptions as it shifts those tax bills on to the rest of its residents.
Janyk said council was able to tell Falcon his ministry should be taking more of a role to "alleviate the municipality of providing the subsidy to Christenson Village and put it where it should be - in B.C. Housing."
Council had hoped to meet with officials from the Ministry of Tourism Culture and the Arts, but found ministry officials pulled out of the meeting before it could happen.
Janyk said his council was hoping to discuss a possible hotel tax.
"We're hoping to see an across-the-region two per cent accommodation tax that would be applied to all accommodations on the Sunshine Coast that we would then turn over to tourism development," he said.
Gibsons was successful in having one idea, originally floated at its council table, adopted by UBCM. The resolution asks the province to allocate some tobacco tax revenues for anti-smoking signage and education on Town-owned lands. The motion passed without hesitation by UBCM members. UBCM will now add that to the list of things it will lobby the province for in the next year.
After some raucous debate, UBCM members voted to advocate keeping local government terms at three years.
Janyk said this is more in line with his preferences, as small towns have a harder time retaining people in local government and extending terms to four years increased the chance of elected officials stepping down, triggering costly by-elections.
Janyk was re-elected to another term on the UBCM board of directors.
