2019

Whereas seniors account for 47 of Canadas healthcare spending while comprising 17 of our countrys population; And whereas the next decade is set to see a 93-billion-dollar increase in healthcare spending in Canada as a result of our aging population; And whereas mid-island communities can expect per capita increases in healthcare costs owing to demographics in roughly the following amounts: Qualicum Beach: 77, Parksville: 53, Courtenay: 19, Nanaimo: 12.5, and Campbell River: 7; And whereas seniors comprise 52.1 of the population of Qualicum Beach and 23.3 of the population for Vancouver

Whereas water is an essential resource upon which all life, including all ecosystems and all local communities depend; And whereas water is a public heritage and a public trust for present and future generations and access to water must not be compromised by commercial operations relating to commercial water bottling or commercial bulk water exports: Therefore be it resolved that the Premier of British Columbia and the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development be requested to immediately cease the licensing and extraction of groundwater for commerci

Whereas community growth has direct impact on the provision of protective services and necessary infrastructure and apparatus, including fire halls and public safety buildings; And whereas there are currently limited funding sources, other than property value taxes, to fund upgrades and expansion of fire halls and public safety buildings: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the Province of British Columbia amend the Local Government Act to allow development cost charges to be used for expansion of fire protection infrastructure.

Whereas the Off-Road Vehicle ORV Act was intended to create safe and more convenient incidental access to public roads and highways to better connect BCs rural communities and support a first-rate ORV trail network, and to allow local governments to expand their trail networks to take advantage of economic development opportunities by way of tourism; And whereas the current administrative process to obtain Operation Permits as permitted under the ORV Act is onerous and not conducive to convenient incidental access to trail networks connecting multiple communities as a separate operation pe

Whereas the Province of British Columbia has adopted the use of a cumulative effects framework to help identify and manage cumulative effects across the natural resource sector; And whereas the cumulative effects framework allows for the inclusion of marine values but the Province has not yet approved any marine values for cumulative effects assessment to inform decision making in coastal regions: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request the provincial government to prioritize the approval of key marine cumulative effects values for long-term monitoring and cumulative effects assessmen

Whereas in 2003 and 2011 UBCM endorsed resolutions calling for legislative changes so local governments can issue municipal ticket information or bylaw violation notices for contraventions of the prohibition on altering land in designated development permit areas, or contrary to issued development permits, but these changes have not yet occurred; And whereas in British Columbia, designation of development permit areas is the main legislative mechanism for addressing protection of riparian and environmentally sensitive area and for protecting development from hazardous conditions such as er

Whereas water sustainability, healthy watersheds and ground water are of vital importance and, commercial fertilizers can be damaging to groundwater and influence water quality in watersheds; And whereas the use of fertilizers in greenhouses and indoor structures creates effluent that contains concentrated commercial fertilizers which, if released untreated can be damaging to groundwater and the overall watershed: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the provincial government explore including in the BC Agricultural Best Practices, the requirement for closed loop greenhouse irr

Whereas the structural use of concrete as a foundation system and associated fill is known to cause irreparable damage to soil biology and render a site unfit for soil-based crops in the future, and low-impact, low carbon, removable foundation technologies are available as a new standard for agricultural structure foundations; And whereas the Agricultural Land Commission Act, and the Agricultural Land Reserve Use, Subdivision and Procedure Regulation the ALR Regulation regulate farm use structures on the agricultural land reserve ALR and the deposit of fill is considered a farm use for all

Whereas the Agricultural Land Commission Act states farm use means an occupation or use of land for farm purposes, including farming of land, plants and animals and any other similar activity designated as farm use by regulation, and includes a farm operation as defined in the Farm Practices Protection Right to Farm Act; And whereas the Agricultural Land Reserve Use, Subdivision and Procedure Regulation the ALR Regulation has differentiated the lawful production of cannabis from other farm use by limiting the structures for production, and narrowing the definition of necessary activities u

Whereas the volume of resolutions admitted for debate from each area association, various local governments and the UBCM Executive, is excessive and does not provide time for wholesome debate on the UBCM convention floor; And whereas the vetting of resolutions is inadequate and leads to a lack of rational, structured arguments to present a compelling case for government to act: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM conduct a thorough audit and review of its resolutions procedures to ensure that the resolutions on the floor of the UBCM convention are reduced in number, repetition and are foc