1998 Resolutions

Year: 1998     Category:  Special Resolution    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Vancouver Island Land Use Plan

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the social and economic impacts of this plan be assessed through a pilot project on Vancouver Island for a period of one year to enable all Vancouver Island communities to understand the social, environmental and economic impacts of this plan.

Year: 1998     Category:  Legislation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution: Amalgamation of Public Transit and School Busing

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of B.C. Municipalities urge the provincial government to create enabling legislation that would permit public transit and school bus operations to be amalgamated, with the objective of enhancing or at least maintaining services at an overall reduced cost to the taxpayer.

Year: 1998     Category:  Legislation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution: Fees for Fire Inspections

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities request the Union of British Columbia Municipalities to petition the Minister of Municipal Affairs to enact legislation to permit municipalities to charge a fee for fire safety inspections for hotels and other public buildings in the municipality.

Year: 1998     Category:  Legislation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution: Scope of Powers of Board of Variance
And Appeal of Board Rulings

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities petition the provincial government to revise the Municipal Act provisions regarding Boards of Variance, to define the scope of powers of Boards of Variance, and to provide for an adequate course of appeal for both citizens and local government councils and further that the resolution be referred to the UBCM Review of the Municipal Act.

Year: 1998     Category:  Legislation    Status: REFERRED
Resolution: Regulation of Auxiliary Uses

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities request the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to consider in the re-write of the Municipal Act that municipalities be given the ability to regulate auxiliary uses by such methods as OCP map designations or other means.

Referred to the AVIM Executive

Year: 1998     Category:  Legislation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution: Regulation of Strata Subdivisions

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities recommend changes to the Condominium Act and Municipal Act that would allow municipalities to be given approval powers for the strata-titling of new buildings.

Year: 1998     Category:  Legislation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution: Handling Drainage Works

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities request that the scope of Section 560 and 561 be broadened and any other relevant section to include all levels of local government.

AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that this resolution be referred to the UBCM Review of the Municipal Act.

Year: 1998     Category:  Taxation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution: Exemption of Property Taxes for Library Facilities

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities petition the Minister of Municipal Affairs to amend the Municipal Act so that land, improvements or both occupied by an established public library under the Library Act are granted exemption from property taxes.

Year: 1998     Category:  Taxation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Hi-Tech Industry

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities petition the province to provide research grants for hi-tech industry in British Columbia and that the 7% sales tax be waived for the purchase of hi-tech equipment, as there are no research grants or tax credits offered to hi-tech industries to encourage development in this area.

Year: 1998     Category:  Taxation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Assessment Appeal Board Decision

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and Union of British Columbia Municipalities strongly urge the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and the BC Assessment Appeal Board to resolve all outstanding major industry appeals for 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997 as soon as possible in 1998, in order that local governments may know the true impact of successful appeals and the impact that they will have on tax revenues.

Year: 1998     Category:  Communities and Resources    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Forest Tenures

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities urge the provincial government to broaden the mandate of its Community Forest project to include consideration of tenure models for individuals, corporations and co-ops as well as municipalities.

Year: 1998     Category:  Communities and Resources    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Forestry Section 88 Grants

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Ministry of Forests reinstate Section 88 Grants for improvements and development of roads that lead into and provide egress from communities.

Year: 1998     Category:  Communities and Resources    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Protection and Restoration of Fish Habitat

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver island Municipalities urge the provincial and federal governments to provide resources and expertise to local governments to step up initiatives for the protection and restoration of salmon habitat streams on Vancouver Island.

Year: 1998     Category:  Communities and Resources    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Aid to Coastal Communities

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities ask British Columbia’s senior Cabinet Minister David Anderson to reinstate funding for this very valuable program for coho stocks:

AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that Minister Anderson commit his government to a multi-million-dollar, multi-year labor transition strategy for coastal communities who are being severely affected by the moratorium on directed coho fishing and declines in other B.C. salmon stocks as a result of mismanagement by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Year: 1998     Category:  Health    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Regional Hospital District Boundaries

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Mount Waddington Regional Hospital District urges the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities to encourage the province to allow the return of those Vancouver Island Municipalities who wish to return to the original Regional Hospital District boundaries.

Year: 1998     Category:  Transportation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Road Transfer

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities conference lobby the government to abandon this method of downloading:

AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the Minister of Transportation and Highways discuss an alternate road maintenance method with the affected communities before proceeding with this plan.

Year: 1998     Category:  Transportation    Status: NOT ENDORSED
Resolution:  Devolution of Arterial Highways

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities petition the Ministry of Transportation and Highways to upgrade to current standards all arterial highways that the Ministry intends to devolve to municipalities prior to devolution.

Year: 1998     Category:  Transportation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Vancouver Island Highway Project Safety

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities lobby the Minister of Transportation and Highways to demand the Vancouver Island Highway Project add a connector route at Hamm Road or an alternate road in the vicinity between Courtenay and Campbell River to provide a route for local residents, businesses, tourists and emergency response vehicles to serve the highway between Courtenay and Campbell River.

Year: 1998     Category:  Transportation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Four Lane Highway to Campbell River

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities write the Minister of Transportation and Highways, with copies to the Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry of Environment and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, to demand the following actions:

1.    that the originally planned four lane Vancouver Island Highway between Courtenay and Campbell River be reinstated to mitigate potential environmental damage;

2.    that further improvement be made to the environmental protective measures on the streams along the Vancouver Island Highway Project; and

3.    that immediate, increased and more vigilant enforcement of environmental violations along the Vancouver Island Highway Project be undertaken.

Year: 1998     Category:  Transportation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Four Lane Highway to Campbell River

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities urge the provincial government to construct as overland route from Squamish to Powell River.

Year: 1998     Category:  Transportation    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Grants in Lieu for Regional District by
The B.C. Ferry Corporation

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government be encouraged to redress this taxation exemption/inequity immediately.

Year: 1998     Category:  Finance    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Regional Library Funding

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities petition the Minister of Municipal Affairs to review grant allocations for the Vancouver Island Regional Library with a specific goal of increasing provincial funding to a yearly negotiated percentage of the total library budget.

Year: 1998     Category:  Finance    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Accounting for Specific Taxes

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the province of British Columbia be requested to account for taxes and other charges levied for specific purposes by reporting these revenues and their related expenditures on a basis other than by inclusion in general revenues so that the effectiveness of these charges can more reasonably be assessed.

Year: 1998     Category:  Finance    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Infrastructure Grants

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that a format be adopted that will calculate the municipal contribution according to its municipal tax revenue per capita, such as the total municipal revenue divided by its population, compared to the provincial municipal tax average.

Year: 1998     Category:  Finance    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Devolutionof Arterial Highways

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities oppose the Ministry of Transportation and Highways and the Province of British Columbia in their efforts to devolve the highways to municipal government.
Year: 1998     Category:  Justice and Protective Services    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Emergency Road Markers

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities petition the Province of British Columbia to begin a province wide program to have emergency road kilometer markers placed at regular intervals along all major highways in B.C.

Year: 1998     Category:  Justice and Protective Services    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Proceeds of Crime

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government be encouraged to accelerate the policy and legislation recognizing the roles of municipal policing services and authorizing appropriate sharing of resulting revenues where applicable.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Reduction of TRIM Mapping Cost

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Regional District of Mount Waddington urges the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities to encourage the province to provide the TRIM maps and cadastral maps to local governments at no cost and that the province encourage the free exchange of information generated on those maps amongst all government ministries, local governments and agencies.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Municipal Arts and Culture Development

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities encourage the UBCM to continue the Arts and Culture Steering Committee with the mandate to further municipal cultural development.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Vancouver Island Cultural Tourism

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities establish a Task Force to look at the issue of cultural tourism and r_commend a mechanism which would support this growth and coordinate Island cultural tourism to maximize audience and economic benefits.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Vancouver Island Film Production Union

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities actively pursue the establishment of ‘Vancouver Island as a Film Production Local by lobbying the provincial government and the appropriate Unions.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: NOT ENDORSED
Resolution:  Crown Lands within Municipalities

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities petition the provincial government to transfer all crown land within municipalities in fee simple to the municipality,  and that land be managed by those municipalities.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Multilateral Agreement on Investment

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities communicate directly with the Premier of British Columbia urging him to intervene with the federal government immediately and demand that the federal negotiator file a permanent and explicit exemption in the MAI limiting its application to areas of federal jurisdiction; and to direct resources to the exploration of options that would safeguard the province, and thereby municipalities and regional districts which are the functions of provincial jurisdiction, against any erosion of provincial rights and powers resulting from the MAI as currently drafted.

AND FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities call on the federal government to initiate a full public debate on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI).

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: REFERRED
Resolution:  Protection of Archeological Sites

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that in the interest of protecting our culture and heritage that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities urge the Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture to review their policy in this regard.

ENDORSED and referred to the UBCM Municipal Act Review Committee

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AIM
Resolution:  Support to the Agricultural Sector

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities inform the province of the highest priority that Vancouver Island municipalities attach to safeguarding the future of farming and the farm community, and urge the province to demonstrate its commitment to a profitable and competitive agriculture industry by actively providing legislative, policy, and resource support to the Vancouver Island farm communities’ initiatives to develop and implement the necessary strategies to address Vancouver Island’s increasingly uncertain agriculture future.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AIM
Resolution:  Consumer Product Stewardship Program

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities request that the provincial government exempt the ‘eco- fee’ structure from provincial taxes and encourage the federal government to do the same;

AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that AVIM and UBCM petition the provincial government to ensure that industry has the disposal means at hand before implementing ‘eco- fees’ on various products.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AIM
Resolution:  Students Eligibility Walk Limits

THERE FORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities lobby the provincial government to take local conditions into consideration when setting eligibility walk limits.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Existing School Enrollment Capacity

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities lobby the provincial government to consult with local governments to mitigate the effects of increasing the school’s enrollment.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Commercial Harvest of Seals and Sea Lions

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of BC Municipalities petition the federal and provincial Ministers of Fisheries to enable  the commercial harvest of seals and sea lions.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Transfer of Water Lots

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities petition the provincial government to transfer water lots in fee simple to the municipality, if requested by that municipality.

Year: 1998     Category:  Selected Issues    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Herbicide Use on Vancouver Island

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities in writing protest this form of herbicide use by E & N Railway anywhere on Vancouver Island.

Year: 1998     Category:  Referred Resolutions    Status: NOT ENDORSED
Resolution:  Business Licence Fees

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Union of British Columbia Municipalities request the provincial government to amend the Municipal Act to provide authority:

1.    to authorize the municipality to add outstanding Business Licence fees to property taxes as arrears; and
2.    to authorize the municipality to charge a double Business Licence fee for unpaid Business Licences.

Year: 1998     Category:  Referred Resolutions    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Revenue Taxation of Telephone Companies

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and Union of British Columbia Municipalities petition the provincial government to require payment of this tax and that this resolution be referred to the UBCM Municipal Act Review Committee.

Year: 1998     Category:  Referred Resolutions    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Photo Radar

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Attorney General be petitioned by the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities to implement a policy of cooperation and liaison with local governments on all matters pertaining to the Photo Radar Ticketing Program.

Year: 1998     Category:  Referred Resolutions    Status: WITHDRAWN
Resolution:  Economically Priced Water for Lands in the Alr

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Association of Vancouver Island Municipalities and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities request that the provincial government take steps to provide farmers in the ALR with an assured supply of economically priced, clean water as an integral part of its commitment to preserve farm land for future generations of British Columbians.

Year: 1998     Category:  Referred Resolutions    Status: Endorsed by AVIM
Resolution:  Consensus on Sustainability

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Union of British Columbia Municipalities urge all organizations interested in the long term health of BC’s forests and other resources, and resource-dependent industries, to work with all British Columbians toward promoting sustainability in its broadest and most widely accepted sense, taking into full account ecological, economic and social values.

The AVICC acknowledges that we are grateful to live, work, and play on the traditional territories of the 
Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwak-Waka’wakw Peoples