By Mary Giuliano

The Union of B.C. Municipalities’ (UBCM) conference in Victoria was a blur of meetings that began at 7:30 a.m. and ended with receptions lasting till 11 p.m. Highlights  include the Mayor’s caucus with 143 mayors in attendance, meeting of the Resort Municipalities, a dialogue with  RCMP  regarding refurbishment of cells, meeting with Minister Bill Bennett regarding West Fernie boundary expansion, meeting with Ministry of Transportation  regarding Intersection of Highway 3 and the Ski hill excellently prepared and  presented by Councillor Warshawsky and a presentation during the Small Talk Forum regarding our successful dirt bike park.

This was prepared by Director of Leisure Services Cam Mertz and well-presented by Councillor Macnair. Sessions on Powers of Mayor and Council, Social Media and Local Government Leadership, speeches by party leaders and a reception hosted by the Consul General of China LIU Fei and guest Chinese entrepreneurs were very interesting.

Fei said “China wants harmonious relationships; we are at a unique point in time, there is the largest ever capital shift occurring from east to west.”

Anna Maria Tremonte, host of CBC’s The Current spoke reflecting on the role of local elected leaders and the media.

“More politicians should speak from the heart. These days, though, a politician rarely gives an answer that has not been filtered through a heavy dose of media training,” she said.

Tremonte suggested that by avoiding clear heartfelt communication about issues elected officials miss opportunities.  “If you believe strongly that you should take an action, you should be prepared to tell others why you are doing it,” she said to a standing ovation.

Another interesting experience was walking through a picket line made up of men, women and children going into the reception for Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers being held at the Royal BC Museum.  The picketers were not aggressive but were a bit offensive with words. The next day Green Leader Jane Sterk was quoted in the press as saying the reason that resolution A 8- Oil Tanker Traffic had passed narrowly was due to the delegates being swayed by the oil and gas presentation. However, at no time was there a presentation of any kind or even CAAP staff or personnel on hand.

Delegates were treated to refreshments and food on stations along the exhibits and were completely on their own.  I do want to thank Councillors Warshawsky, Macnair, Ripley, McSkimming and Krats for being at this convention. It always carries more weight when attending ministerial meetings to have a large number.  The Treaty Negotiations Team was in Fernie on October 10 to explain about negotiations. Over 300 hectares of land above Fernie Mountain Campground are included; there will be no impact on tenure, guide outfitters and trappers can still do what they do on public land that becomes part of the treaty lands.

CUPE president Barry O’Neill was in town to present his Ten Percent Shift. Spending 10 percent of monies locally could provide multiple benefits to a community.

Also met with  valley mayors and several provincial representatives from China, India, Korea, USA and Europe to exchange information regarding trade opportunities for the Elk Valley, participated in the TECK One Tweet, One Life We Day Twitter campaign and got to present our fire chief Shawn Ivany with a 30 year Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal and certificate.  Chief Ivany has extensive training in the fields of fire protection, rescue and emergency services.  Congratulations to Chief Ivany on achieving this milestone.

Byron Sarabun has been promoted to position of Supervisor of Public Works, Congratulations Byron.

Pets Society’s Pierre Dupont presented plans for a couple of areas for an off leash dog park that is referred to the Leisure Centre Master plan in the works. Council commends Mr. Dupont for all his work towards making this a reality; they are fundraising towards the $100,000 needed for this project.

There has been an addition to the Library garden that has brought about changes to parking and bike rack use.  An issue arose when residents felt that bike racks donated for use by the Academy meant loss of parking.  Number of spaces remains the same but next spring new racks will be provided by the City of Fernie for public use and planters will be placed to separate the bike rack area from vehicle parking for safety reasons.

A delegation concerned about arena closure in April was reassured that it would stay open for the user groups that utilize this amenity. The building official’s report has Fernie at $10,474,000.00 of building construction value to date this year.

Above photo: Mayor Giuliano chats with visiting NDP leader and Leader of the Opposition Adrian Dix earlier this month. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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