Salmon Arm council used a recent opportunity to bend the ears of B.C. ministers and ministry staff to lobby for needs both local and widespread.
On the heels of Salmon Arm's 55+ BC Games, city councillors and staff left for Vancouver to take part in the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention, Sept 16-20.
"UBCMs are always very interesting and this one, I would say, it was heightened because of the pending election call, so I would say there was kind of that electricity in the air," said Mayor Alan Harrison who, with fellow delegates, had an opportunity to hear the party leaders share their respective platforms for the impending campaign.
One of the main draws for delegates of the convention, however, was the opportunity to communicate directly with provincial ministers and ministry staff. City of Salmon Arm council, along with administrator Erin Jackson, had several meetings lined up. One was with Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, a meeting that opened with council giving thanks for funding received to assist with work incorporating Bill 44, which required local zoning bylaw changes to support further densification.
Asked about B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad's pledge, if elected, to eliminate provisions under Bill 44, Harrison explained Salmon Arm can handle the densification, in part due to the city's "well-established urban containment boundary" with identified development areas.
"I know there are other communities, the City of Langley… other larger, spread out communities, don’t have that ability so I understand their perspective," said Harrison. "From our perspective, we can make Bill 44 work and in fact our OCP (official community plan) that we did last in 2012, although not to the same degree that Bill 44 densifies, it was all about densificaiton from the core out and we’re continuing to do that."
Harrison credited Coun. Louise Wallace Richmond for leading a conversation with Kahlon around the 25-bed Marshlands Shelter, opened by BC Housing in December 2023, supported housing units, and support still needed to assist people in moving up the "housing ladder."
"When there’s not movement in the ladder, things come to a standstill," Harrison explained. "While we’ve had some movement from people who are without homes moving to shelter and those people from shelter moving to supportive, and supportive moving to non-supportive, that movement’s been slow, so we talked about that piece because if you don’t have movement within the ladder, you’re just going to be adding at the lower rungs rather than assisting and helping people move along. So we talked about that and the need for wrap-around support, especially for those that are most vulnerable."
On the topic of housing, Harrison was pleased to see the province taking measures to provide compassionate involuntary care.
"That was a huge topic of discussion at the UBCM this year and as you know, the two major parties are moving in that direction because, like other communities, what we’re finding is the housing piece is working for much of the population, it’s helping, but those who are in the most need with severe mental health, severe addiction issues, it is not working," said Harrison, "We need to be able to help those people who are crying in the streets for help and can’t do it on their own… When you try something out and it doesn’t work so well, you have to try something else."
Council also spent time with the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. During the meeting, council lobbied for support with a need related to densification: public transportation.
"If you’re going to densify and you’re talking about less parking and you’re talking about being able to walk to amenities and close to amenities, you need to have public transportation, and small communities like ours cannot afford to do it alone," said Harrison. "We need more transit, we know we need more transit, it’s really expensive, so we pushed there."
Council also pushed the ministry to repave the two-lane stretch of Highway 1 between the 10th Avenue SW and 10th Street SW intersections.
"I run that area and I told them there's 118 pot holes in that 700 metre stretch and it’s probably the worst section of Highway 1 in the country," said Harrison. "We understand that there’s going to be upgrading, and there’s going to be four lanes, but they’ve been saying this for two years now and we know consultation is still happening between Adams Lake and the province. But they need to resurface that… they’re aware of that piece of highway and I’m optimistic that that will be done."
Another request to the ministry: fix the dips in the sections of Highway 1 running through Salmon Arm, particularly at the intersections, "because when winter comes you can’t get the snow out of there and it’s dangerous."
Council also shared concern around the rerouting of highway traffic during the Bruhn Bridge replacement project, set to begin this fall.
"We also know the traffic is going to be rerouted on 97A and 97B and that road is going to be busy and there’s two intersections we’re concerned about there, the Auto Road and 97B out by the industrial park and also 10th and 97B," said Harrison. Regarding the intersection at 10th, council urged lowering the speed limit, at least as a temporary measure.
To Municipal Affairs Minister Anne Kang, council, particularly Coun. Kevin Flynn, talked about the city's strategic plan and the pollution control centre, "and the fact it’s going to be a $50- to $60-million project and that small committees cannot do it alone and that we need help."
"We said that at every meeting we were at, whether it was applicable or not, because it’s a reality of the situation," added Harrison.
Wearing their 55+ BC Games t-shirts, council also had a chance to meet with Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Minister Lana Popham, who was well aware of the city's success in hosting the event.
"It just vibrated through the province – small towns can do it," said Harrison. "That was our message and that was a celebration, really. We also talked about our other big events, the fall fair and RootsandBlues and there’s grant funding that those events use. We would like to see those funds on an annual basis, rather than having to reapply every year… Because it’s work and for the most part those are largely volunteer driven associations…"
Harrison said council was approached by people from all over about the Games.
"I’ve had so many unsolicited telephone calls, emails, and texts from participants who were here who just really enjoyed the community," he said. "It’s not a sporting event; it’s a cultural community event and they loved the music, they loved the downtown, they loved the flowers. I mean, the people of Salmon Arm did it and credit to them, it was a team effort!"
Council's one resolution, to increase funding for the province's invasive mussels defence program, was supported by UBCM delegates.
