Mayor and Council Meet with Cabinet Ministers During UBCM

NEWS RELEASE - Distributed September 16, 2021 12:30 PM

Mayor and Council have conducted several meetings with Cabinet Ministers and senior officials from crown corporations as part of the 2021 Annual Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Convention.

The UBCM Convention is an annual event that provides local governments from across the province the opportunity to gather, share experiences and take a united position on issues impacting their communities. Through panel discussions as well as meetings with elected officials and endorsement of Resolutions, creation of new policies, both at the local and provincial levels of government, can occur to strengthen local governments. This year due to COVID-19 and Public Health Orders the meeting took place virtually.

Meetings with Cabinet Minister and Provincial Agencies

Government relations is one of the purposes of UBCM as it provides opportunities for local governments to request meetings with Cabinet Ministers, senior ministry officials and crown corporations to discuss matters impacting their communities.

This year, Mayor and Council were able to secure several meetings with Cabinet Ministers and crown corporations:

• Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing;
• Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation;
• Minister of Mental Health and Addictions;
• Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General;
• BC Assessment Authority;
• BC Housing; and,
• BC Hydro.

Nanaimo City Council took the opportunity to advocate for the matters most impacting the community. Topics included: affordable housing and below market priced housing to help address the homelessness and affordability needs in our community; community supports in response to the needs of the City's most vulnerable residents and gaps associated with the needs of individuals who are struggling with complex care issues associated with mental health and/or addictions as well as the concerns raised by local businesses and residents as a result of the social challenges facing the City; and, the Mayor and Council also took the opportunity to advocate for an inquiry into BC's justice system to determine why many prolific offenders with serious charges are released back into the community.

City of Nanaimo wins UBCM Award

On Tuesday, September 14, 2021, it was announced that the City of Nanaimo won UBCM's Community Excellence Award, under the Sustainability category. The award was in recognition of the City's work on Complete Streets Engineering Standards and Design Guidelines. You can learn more about the awards in UBCM's news release: "UBCM Community Excellence Award Winners".

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