2019

Whereas single-use disposable products, whether they are recyclable or not, must be manufactured, handled and then disposed of which is not always done in the proper waste stream; And whereas all petroleum plastic disposable products are derived from fossil fuels which increases carbon emissions in the atmosphere, and all plastic products created never go away; And whereas the compostable or biodegradable disposable products are not accepted at all composting facilities and can contaminate the recycling stream by being confused with recyclable plastic products; And whereas the costs both

Whereas the transportation sector is the second-largest contributor of GHG, some of the largest reductions in GHGs are possible through facilitating a mode shift to low carbon mobility options, such as increased ridership of emissions-free transit; And whereas transforming regional public transit could drastically increase mode-shift to clean public transit system: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of British Columbia and BC Transit take immediate actions to support and provide funding for transformational improvements to regional BC transit infrastructure to promote and enable r

Whereas almost 500,000 individuals in BC experience food insecurity, and Canada remains one of the only Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD nations without a national school food program and Canadas current patchwork of school food programming reaches only a small percentage of students; And whereas school food programs have been shown to increase childrens consumption of vegetables, fruits and other healthy foods and decrease the consumption of unhealthy ones; improve students mental health, including reductions in behavioural and emotional problems; improve cognit

Whereas youth have a strong interest in the future of local communities; And whereas empowering young people to participate in democratic processes fosters ongoing and active civic participation: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of British Columbia revise the voting age for local government elections to 16 years of age.

Whereas the Province of British Columbia has the governing authority to implement electoral legislative changes including allowing for Permanent Residents to vote in municipal elections; And whereas more than 45 countries have granted Permanent Residents some form of voting rights including seven jurisdictions in the US and 25 European Union countries; and 11 municipalities in Canada are working toward extending local election voting rights to Permanent Residents: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of British Columbia make the necessary changes to allow Permanent Residents to vot

Whereas the worlds leading climate scientists have warned that we have less than 12 years to meet our climate targets, and early action is required to avoid significant costs and impacts to social and environmental well-being in our communities, and worldwide, local governments are uniquely positioned to enable this mobilization effort, in a coordinated and integrated fashion across sectors, enabling individual action with timely and accurate information, incentives, directions, coordination, tools, targets and scalable, impactful programs; And whereas local governments GHG reduction plans

Whereas the Prime Minister of Canada and the Premiers of BC and most provinces signed the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change in 2016, endorsing a policy shift that could substantially reduce greenhouse gas GHG pollution from transportation while funding public transit improvements, including inter-city and commuter bus and rail service; And whereas the transportation sector is the second-largest contributor of GHG pollution in Canada, representing 23 of total emissions: Therefore be it resolved that local governments call on the Governments of Canada and British Col

Whereas one of the conditions of the original Order-in-Council establishing the Esquimalt and Nanaimo EN now Island Corridor Foundation ICF railway corridor is that if the corridor is no longer needed or used for railway purposes, it goes back to the original owner and assembling a similar multi-modal corridor connecting the Alberni Inlet to the Comox Valley to Greater Victoria in the context of current land values and land uses would be impossible to replicate; And whereas repair of the railway infrastructure can only reasonably be accomplished by way of capital investment from senior lev

Whereas British Columbia is currently experiencing an unprecedented public health emergency due to an unpredictable and highly-toxic drug supply, and smoking or inhalation is thethere second most common mode of consumption among all people who have died from a suspected illicit drug overdose and the most common mode of consumption among men and those between the ages of 15 and 29; And whereas observed consumption services i.e.

Whereas it has been two years since BC declared a public-health emergency due to increased overdoses, yet the death toll for those consuming substances continues to rise due to an unpredictable and highlytoxic drug supply; And whereas people with opioid use disorder, a chronic relapsing medical condition, are at high risk of overdoserelated harms including death and an estimated 42,200 people inject toxic substances in British Columbia, it is not possible for the treatment system to rapidly increase services fast enough to manage this number of people as patients within a medical treatment