Hello and welcome back!
Weather in Victoria was pretty fantastic this summer, but for many in BC and the rest of Canada, it’s been one long wildfire season. Hope everyone gets the help they need to recover.
After a bit of a summertime slowdown at Northern Beat, we’re back on the bridge bursting with vigor and bracing for another legislative season of non-stop democratic fun.
So, circle Oct. 3 on your calendar because that’s when Hansard TV resumes!
We’ll have lots of great stories coming your way and two new regular features: a weekly round-up of the goings-on in Victoria during session and a regular update on happenings elsewhere around the province. We also have some excellent writers in the wings.
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Next week though, we’ll be at the largest municipal/provincial dust-up of the year, otherwise known as the the Union of BC Municipalities conference. A hotly anticipated event that is exceptionally well-attended by community leaders and provincial cabinet ministers alike.
Mayors look forward to it because they can corner cabinet ministers on important community issues and cabinet ministers turn up because it’s political tradition and at some point they have to listen to the leaders they’ve been avoiding meeting with all year.
This conference promises to be especially lively given all the domino effects provincial policy has offloaded onto municipalities lately, including healthcare staffing shortfalls, public drug use health and safety risks, rampant public disorder and crime, housing unaffordability, police personnel shortages, forestry mismanagement, on and on.
It’s easy to forget, but municipalities are only supposed to take care of mundane stuff we don’t really think about, like roads, sewers, bylaws, city parks and blue box recycling. They aren’t supposed to have to battle every week like superheroes just to keep their local emergency rooms open.
Each day this upcoming week, we’ll fire off a snapshot of select UBCM action. Stay tuned for random observations, heated town halls, insightful conversations and hot leads.
Meanwhile, if you have the time and stomach for reading about failed government drug policy, I give you my latest column:
That’s it for today.
Thanks, as always, for reading. If you like our stuff, please share our work and consider subscribing. All subscription fees go to our freelance writers. Thank you for sharing our work.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Fran
Info, suggestions, questions, contact Fran@Northernbeat.ca
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