 |
| Northwest officials and those from the province met at UBCM this week to discuss the Resource Benefits Alliance program (image from Mayor Herb Pond FB) |
One of the first dispatches of what Prince Rupert's Mayor and Council have been up to at the 2023 UBCM Convention has been relayed this morning, with Mayor Herb Pond sharing some photos from a gathering of Northwest Officials and Premier Eby along with cabinet members and regional MLA's.
Through his Social Media stream this morning, Mr. Pond observed of some discussions related to the Resource Benefits Alliance program, the short review noting of the work that the collective is taking on to address the imbalance in financial resources for the Northwest.
While the update was big on applause for the response by the province to their concerns and for North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice's efforts for the region; there were no actual details released this morning towards the RBA program or what municipal government's may be hoping to see come from their discussions this week.
In May, Mr, Pond had relayed some hopeful notes towards having the concerns of the Alliance addressed by the province.
So far the RBA website has offered up few hints as to what that progress may have delivered.
Should an update come forward, we'll update our notes on the RBA program, which you can explore further through our archive.
The Mayor's shout out this morning includes an array of photos from the days conversation which you can review here
Update: In an afternoon information release North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice, added some background the discussion, along with a link to a recently completed report on the RBA.
That document is for the most part a review of the progress to date since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2022, as for what may be ahead, that appears to be a chapter still to come.
The Working Group report can be reviewed here.
The UBCM convention wraps up tomorrow morning with a keynote address from Premier Eby at 11 AM.
You can follow some of the items of note from UBCM 2023 through our archive page here.
7 years for the RBA to sign an MOU.
ReplyDelete2 more years of socializing the notion of this idea of returning some of the benefits accrued to senior levels of government back into local communities.
Six months ago, the needle was moving.
Today, a step was taken to correct the imbalance.
If you do not have a date and an amount, you need to shift focus to other forms of revenue.
Google Peace River Fair Share Agreement before you give up.
DeleteIt may take a long time but it’ll be worth it.
Keep it up mayor and council!!
“Shift focus to other forms of revenue” such as the port tax cap? Getting port industry to pay their fair share?
DeleteMore like growing industry, aka attract more business to the 31st largest city in the province.
DeleteThe city needs to control their own destiny becuase other levels of government are not moving fast enough.
When is something going to be done about the state of Prince Rupert, the infrastructure, pot holes, lack of facilities ?If I hit one more pot hole I am going to scream. Or that DP World makes a fortune here and nothing is put into the city to help cover costs to keep our city going and beautiful.
ReplyDeletePot holes are secondary as crews are stretched thin due to record water pipe breakages. You’re going to be screaming for a while.
DeleteDP operates ports in Rupert, Nanaimo, Vancouver and Surrey. They pay capped tax rates in the above cities because of a provincial tax policy.
Why did DP invest in all of those ports? Partly due to that tax certainty.
Why aren’t those cities moaning about the tax cap?
Because they attracted business and diversified their tax base.
Comparing the tax base of Rupert to Nanaimo Vancouver and Surrey is as ludicrous as comparing a herd of elephants to a beehive
DeleteOk Eeyore, so let’s forget about attracting new businesses and investment. Hoping for tax policy changes and RBA’s is not a strategy.
Delete