After virtual meetings held during the 2021 Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention, Gibsons received some news and secured more meetings on policing and community watershed issues. In a Sept. 17 interview with Coast Reporter, Mayor Bill Beamish expressed frustrations with what he views as a lack of progress and information sharing on both files.
Beamish said that a meeting with the Sunshine Coast RCMP detachment commander and representatives of RCMP E Division officials is set for Oct. 13. Discussions will focus on the transition that policing in the area will face should 2021 census data, due to be released later this year, show that Gibsons’ population has increased from the current estimate of 4,816 to 5,000.
At the higher level, the province will sign a policing contract with the town and the RCMP for a municipal detachment. A 2019 town study on the impacts of such a change to a municipal policing was shared with the province and the RCMP. It estimates that Gibsons’ share of policing costs would increase by about $1 million annually under the current parameters set in B.C.’s Police Act.
“We have been very concerned with the lack of contact that we have had since then,” said Beamish. He said that he objected when the province proposed to discuss arrangements and service levels directly with the RCMP and then advise the town on the results. “It makes no sense for you (the province) to tell us, we need to be at the table with you when you have the discussion, not to consider your plan but to be part of making it our plan,” said Beamish.
Beamish said that he did glean two nuggets of good news from the UBCM meetings on policing. The province, RCMP and town will jointly discuss resourcing levels before any changes for police services in Gibsons are set. Those meetings will likely be held in December or January. There also will be a phasing-in period for any changes to RCMP costs for the town. He was told that costs are usually adjusted over a two- to three-year period.
Watershed Protection
Beamish said council received no update from provincial officials on its 2014 application for community watershed protection for the aquifer during its UBCM meetings. It did secure a commitment for a follow-up meeting with Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) representatives in the coming months. No date has been set.
The mayor said the town would be taking the lead on making those arrangements as it wants to ensure that all relevant ministries, other impacted local authorities and community groups such as the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association can be involved.
Gibsons’ current council has raised the lack of a response to the seven-year-old application during meetings with the same FLNRORD staffer at the past two UBCM conventions. “It drives me crazy to think that people can ignore us to this extent because this is such an important issue for our community,” said Beamish.
In response to a Coast Reporter question about the state of the town’s application, FLNRORD spokesperson Tyler Hooper wrote in an email that the ministry’s “regional water staff are working with the Town of Gibsons, Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), shíshálh First Nation and Squamish First Nation related to a Regional Watershed Management Plan… Water management is complex and there are many watershed and aquifer specific factors that should be considered in determining the most appropriate approach to maintaining the integrity of the aquifer and associated watershed. The ministry has committed to further discussing with Gibsons and the SCRD existing and potential additional mechanisms to maintain the integrity of the aquifer and associated watershed, including a community watershed if appropriate.”
