UBCM Convention comes to an end as municipal leaders wrap up week of networking

Members of Prince Rupert Council and City staff taking some time from the
week of political discussion to get in a photo on the Lawn of the Legislature
(photo from City of Prince Rupert Facebook page)

There haven't been many dispatches from members of the North Coast delegation to this years UBCM convention in Victoria, though from the few items of interest provided by Councillor Blair Mirau and Mayor Lee Brain, it does appear that members of the local group have had a full week of workshops, seminars and speeches to take in during the week long festival of municipal politics.

The five days covered a lot of material for community leaders from across British Columbia, with two days dedicated towards resolutions provided by a number of municipal governments prior to the annual convention, held this year at the Victoria Conference Centre.

Much of the policy work took place in the early days of the convention and some of the results from the Resolutions files can be reviewed below, as UBCM officials have been providing a rolling scorecard of sorts as to how each submission fared at the discussion level.

September 30th Resolutions Discussions
September 29th Resolutions Discussions
September 28th Resolutions Discussions

Friday delivered a major announcement from the Federal Government with 35 upgrades to water and waste water systems in the province listed as set to benefit from Federal and provincial funding, though much of the Northwest does not appear to have made this first wave of projects, with only projects in Burns Lake and Fort St. James listed in Friday's update.

The Federal announcement from today does note that additional projects will be identified following a new intake process which will come to an end on November 23rd.

The convention also provided an opportunity for political leaders from the federal and provincial level to address the gathering, with both Premier Christy Clark and NDP opposition leader John Horgan making use of their time at UBCM to chart the course for the upcoming provincial election.

The photo album from UBCM highlights the meetings and discussion sessions that provincial cabinet members held with municipal officials during the course of the convention.

Featured in the archive so far, digital keepsakes for Port Edward, Terrace, Kitimat and Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District some of the communities which have seen photos posted to this point.

Snapshots of any get togethers with the Prince Rupert representatives seem to still be in the developing room however, with none added to the list as we hit the post button on our item.

You can check here for any updates to the roll call of communities as they are posted to the UBCM photo site. ( All photos courtesy of UBCM photo feed )

Port Edward representatives meeting with Premier Clark

Port Edward Council with Minister Peter Fassbender

Some members of the Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional
District group meeting with Minister Fassbender

Terrace Council members with Minister Peter Fassbender

Kitimat Officials sitting in for a session with Premier Clark

 When it comes to any Prince Rupert participation at UBCM, while there were no official civic updates through the City of Prince Rupert website, Councillor Blair Mirau offered up a glimpse at the fast face of the week through contributions to his Facebook page and twitter feeds through the week.

The councillor offered up occasional snapshots of some of the many events that he was attending, while Mayor Brain highlighted an award for the Prince Rupert Airport and announced that will be adding to his Mayoralty duties, taking up a new position as a member of the Municipal Climate Council.

Prior to their departure for Victoria, Council members had not provided much of a preview as to what they hoped to achieve, or to take away from their week in the provincial capital. However, there will be an opportunity for an update at the first public council session for October that comes up on the 11th of next month.

At that October meeting, those Council members who made the trek down to Victoria will have some time to share their thoughts on what they have discovered from other municipal leaders in the province, or share some of their observations from their sessions with provincial officials.

As for what those other communities across British Columbia are talking about from their five days of discussion, check our UBCM Talking Points archive for background on some of the issues and items of interest from the 2016 convention.

With the gavel now having sounded to bring UBCM 2016 to an end, municipal politicians will be working on their agenda plans for 2017 when the convention returns to its home base of Vancouver.