The Canadian Taxpayers Federation complained last week that the annual convention of the Union of BC Municipalities was largely a group of local politicians asking for more money from the province. Mayor Ron Toyota doesn’t see it that way.
“For us, it is an opportunity to meet with the premier, ministers and officials and talk about topics that concern us,” he said on Monday. “We don’t go in asking for money. You only get something out of these meetings if there is substance to the discussions. It keeps communication open and makes us visible to the government. We aren’t there to demand or complain, but to get things done.”
Toyota said meetings in previous years have helped set the stage for projects like the paving of Erickson Road and a new intersection at Northwest Boulevard and Pine Street, for which construction will start in the spring. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure recently announced the tender has been let and construction will be completed in June of 2015.
Toyota said that much of the discussion he heard centred around the problems municipalities and regional districts experience when services are downloaded from senior levels of government.
“For example, we have explained what a big hit our taxpayers received when our population hit 5,000 and we had to start paying for our policing right away, instead of having the costs phased in,” he said. “And now we are learning that we are having to pay for RCMP officers’ severance pay negotiated before we were even part of the system. It is a form of downloading.”
Other services that are downloaded might initially come with financial support, he admitted.
“But it often just fades away,” he said. “But screaming won’t stop it from happening. Senior governments operate on a much larger scale and when they fund programs it often doesn’t seem to make much of a difference in small communities.”
He cited federal programs that are worth billions of dollars.
“But distribute that across the provinces and territories, then divide it among all or many of their communities, and we don’t end up getting much. We are only a tiny part of the big picture.”
In his two terms in office, Toyota said he has come to learn that making connections with other communities and provincial officials is a valuable investment in time and effort.
“Things take time — you build connections and earn trust,” he said. “You don’t just walk into a room and shout ‘I’m here!’ You have to start a conversation and take it from there.”
And there is particular value in presenting a united front of mayor and councillors.
“It makes an impression if you go into a meeting with ministry officials as a council speaking with one voice. It gives the message more impact.”