It has been a long while since I have written a blog. And I love blogging, like a lot. But in today’s polarizing world, being vulnerable especially about complex problems with varied opinions, is not as easy as it used to be. The backlash seems harsher and yeah, my skin is occasionally thick but most of the time it’s not. So, please be gentle with me as I attempt to blog more.
Last week I attended my first UBCM board meeting of the 2023-2024 term in Vancouver. The UBCM board is an incredible group of elected officials coming together, doing important advocacy for local governments across the province. We have an amazing group elected to the board including our awesome President Trish Mandewo, Councillor for the City of Coquitlam. You can learn more about UBCM on their website here.
An important topic of conversation was Bill 45 called the Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act (No. 4), 2023. This bill makes an amendment to the Community Charter and the Vancouver Charter and basically says that in order to enforce a bylaw against a person who is sheltering in an encampment, local governments will have to ensure alternative shelter is reasonably available.
There are a few problematic issues with this legislation, the main one being that it is being put through some miscellaneous statutes act without local government consultation. And local governments have questions, like what does this mean for how we govern our communities?
There are so many unanswered questions and without doing proper consultation, it is the opinion of many that this piece of legislation does a disservice to everyone in our community. Here’s how President Trish Mandewo put it in her op-ed in today’s edition of the Vancouver Sun:
“This is a lose-lose-lose scenario — for homeless people who need appropriate housing, for residents who are concerned with the fate of so many individuals who have no other choice than to camp, and for local governments which have the responsibility for maintaining parks and public spaces for the use of the community. It does not have to be this way.”
There are many reasons why this legislation needs to be withdrawn and for local government consultation to occur. You can read more about Bill 45 in the full op-ed here.
In addition to Bill 45, there are many important issues facing local governments every day and a lot of that work seems to be incredibly invisible. Know that many of your council members are working hard behind the scenes to find answers to complex questions and a lot of this takes time. And while that time passes, I recognize that residents are becoming increasingly frustrated, and fairly so – you have every right to be frustrated because admittedly, the answers aren’t coming soon enough. And there might not be anything I can say that will lessen that frustration – but know that I continue to work hard on these issues with several of my colleagues locally and across the province. I will continue to answer your questions the best I can, learn, grow and govern in a way that moves us closer and closer to a win-win-win resolution.
Should you have any questions that need answering, or want to provide comments, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks for reading.
coriramsay 