Tag: municipality

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UBCM Response to Bill 45

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There are many reasons why this legislation needs to be withdrawn and for local government consultation to occur.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.

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Where to vote this municipal election

This October, British Columbians across the province will take part in the 2022 General Local Elections. This is a great opportunity to participate in how you want to see our great city run. In the City of Prince George, there are 9 electable positions available on general voting day: 1 mayor and 8 councillors. I encourage every eligible voter to get out and vote – at the advanced polls, on general voting day or through a mail ballot.

Here’s how to vote:

The City of Prince George uses same-day elector registration – this means that you don’t need to register to vote in advance. To vote, show up to a polling station with you two pieces of identification to prove y our place of residence (or property ownership) and identity. Eligible resident electors include the following:

  • Those 18 years of age or older on general voting day;
  • A Canadian citizen;
  • A resident of BC for at least six (6) months immediately before the day of registration;
  • A resident of the municipality on the day of registration (no minimum days required);
  • Not disqualified under the Local Government Act or any other enactment from voting in the election and not otherwise disqualified by law.

Please note that non-resident property electors who own real property in the municipality are eligible to vote in in addition to the points above, if they were the own 30 days before the election; additionally, only persons who are registered owners of the real property, either as joint tenants or tenants in common, are individuals who are not holding the property in trust for a corporation or another trust are eligible to vote.

Here’s where to vote on General Voting Day

Advance Voting Opportunities include:

  • Wednesday, October 5, 2022 – Civic Centre
  • Thursday, October 6, 2022 – Civic Centre
  • Tuesday, October 11, 2022 – UNBC (7-170 Bentley Centre)
  • Wednesday, October 12, 2022 – CN Centre

General Voting Day is Saturday, October 15, 2022 from 8:00am – 8:00pm at the following locations:

  • Blackburn Elementary
  • College Heights Secondary
  • DP Todd Secondary
  • Edgewood Elementary
  • John McInnis Learning Centre
  • Prince George & Conference Civic Centre
  • Shas Ti Kelly Road Secondary
  • Vanway Elementary

Here’s why voting is important

For the last several elections, we’ve seen low voter turnout. Getting out to vote ensures that your voice is heard and represented in the votes around the council table on the things that matter most to you. When you vote, you are choosing who will represent you. So this election, be sure to take the time to ensure your voice is heard as we re-elect our next mayor and council.

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Councillor Cori Ramsay seeking re-election in 2022 municipal election

August 31, 2022

Prince George, BC – Today, City of Prince George incumbent Cori Ramsay announced her intentions to seek re-election for the position of councillor in the 2022 municipal election. First elected in 2018, Ramsay has served the community as a strong advocate and collaborative leader for the last four years.

Over the course of the term Ramsay was appointed to the city’s Finance & Audit Committee, Accessibility Committee, and the Select Committee on Poverty Reduction. Additionally, Ramsay also ran for election to the North Central Local Government Association (NCLGA) board and during her time on the board (2019 – Present) became President (2021-2022) of the association representing 39 local governments across northern BC.

Last year, Ramsay was appointed to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Board, and currently sits on the Health and Social Development and Indigenous Relations Committees. She intends to run for election to the UBCM board this September at the associations Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Key priorities Ramsay hopes to focus on in the upcoming term include, but are not limited to:

  • Health and social well-being of our community, namely, the complex social issues impacting our community such as homelessness, mental health and addictions. 
  • Strategic and targeted advocacy 
  • Strong economic growth and resiliency
  • Infrastructure reinvestment
  • Art, culture, recreation, parks, trails, transit and green spaces
  • Truth and Reconciliation
  • Climate mitigation and adaptation

On running for re-election, Ramsay says this: “I will continue to work hard for the residents of Prince George. It is so important to have young voices and female representation around the council table and I hope you will vote for strong advocacy and collaborative leadership on October 15th as you head to the polls to cast your ballot.”

Cori Ramsay grew up living in poverty in the lower mainland and moved to Prince George at the age of 15 to come live with her Aunt and Uncle. She went on to study at UNBC, graduating with a English Literature degree in 2010. She complete her graduate diploma in public relations at UVIC in 2022 and currently works as Lead Marketing Analyst for Integris Credit Union.

To learn more about Cori Ramsay, visit coriramsay.ca.

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Media Enquiries:

Cori Ramsay
250-613-2610
cori.ramsay@princegeorge.ca

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On becoming a city councillor

I work in marketing and communication and write blogs, website content, internal and external communications, annual reports, social media posts, editorials, you name it, for work every day. When I first got elected, I had every intention of writing a blog so you could follow along on my elected journey. Well, turns out this is the hardest job I’ve ever had with a steep learning curve and so I’m finally making time to share a relatively brief overview of some learnings over my last three years on council.

The hardest job I’ve ever had

I have to say that this is the hardest job I’ve ever had. There is not really anything that can prepare you for the steep learning curve. Stepping into this role you’re immediately expected to understand policy, governance, the inner workings of a bajillion different bylaws, capital projects, municipal budgets, meeting procedures, and ultimately what it means to be accountable to taxpayers who give you hundreds of millions of dollars to run a city. You typically read anywhere from 300-1000 pages of reports per council meeting and that increases if there’s a closed meeting or if you’re on committees (I’m on Finance & Audit, Poverty Reduction, and Accessibility). I am by no means a fast reader and spend hours upon hours prepping for every meeting. The one saving grace to this steep learning curve is your colleagues, who are all going through this experience together and I am grateful for the mentorship, phone calls, meetings, and conversations that have deepened my knowledge base.

Debating publicly

Besides the learning curve, there’s also understanding how to debate publicly. I grew up in sea cadets and had to sit boards – this is where a panel of four or five high ranking officers interview you and ask you test questions and you have to give verbal answers. I think this prepared me for public speaking because it has never really been something that I had any concern over.

Being good at public speaking and forming arguments in a live debate are two completely different things. I enjoy debate but it’s not something I learned growing up and had to figure out during my time on council. Here are two important lessons I’ve learned: 1) everything you say is recorded and amplified so be sure to say what you mean and be clear, and 2) you will work with your council colleagues for four years so don’t leave the table angry. Everyone around the council table brings a unique perspective and you’re not always going to agree on every issue – but you might agree on some. When you debate issues, you have to remember that everyone is doing what they think is best for the community and at the end of the day, there’s no reason to be angry about that.

The worst days

There are days on this job where people call you names. They misjudge your character, your reasoning, they make assumptions about where you’re coming from, and they even bully you. And it hurts, a lot. You have to have thick skin, an amazing support network, and a good self-care routine in place so you don’t always focus on the negative. Even on the worst days I still love this job. I love governance and policy development; I am a complete finance nerd and enjoy learning more and more about our budget and what each line represents. I have a background in public relations and marketing / communications so I never expected to be learning about things like municipal capital projects, sewer, water, utilities, permissive tax exemptions, formal hearings, quasi judicial hearings – and most of that during a global pandemic. But being on council and continuously learning about the inner workings of our city has become a great source of joy.

Moving the mountain

Change might seem like an easy thing to accomplish on a municipal council, but getting your eight council colleagues to agree with you is not always the easiest task. The biggest change I’ve accomplished on council to date is a push for a reduction to the city managers budget amendment authority (maybe that should be it’s own blog…) and I couldn’t be happier to see those changes supported by my council colleagues. This is policy change that will impact our city for as long as it remains in effect.

My Why

Years ago my work showed this Simon Sinek video on How Great Leaders Inspire Action and ever since then, talking about our ‘Why’ has become common practice. My ‘Why’ for running for council is simple: I love this community and I want to help make a difference.

Onwards and Upwards

Up next for me: I can’t wait until the UBCM Virtual Conference this September when I will be appointed for a one year term position to their board (the Presidents of each area association are appointed to the board and as I currently sit as the President of NCLGA, I will join UBCM in September).

I am very slow to respond to email so if you ever have any questions or want to reach out, please do. The best way to get in touch is to text or call me and you can find my contact details on the contact page of my site.

If you made it this far, thanks for coming along on this journey with me. I have loved every step of it along the way.

All my best,

Cori