B.C. mayors cautious about changes to Municipal Affairs

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B.C. mayors will no longer have a single point of contact in the provincial government after the cabinet shuffle split the old Ministry of Municipal Affairs between the Office of the Premier and the new Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, led by Ravi Kahlon.

Several local government leaders said Wednesday they were optimistic the changes signal a restart in municipal-provincial relations after two years of having policies, particularly around housing, dictated to them from Victoria.

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Others are cautious, wondering whether Premier David Eby will have the time to deal directly with municipal officials and wondering what role Brittny Anderson, the new minister of state for local governments and rural communities, will have.

According to the province, the premier’s office will be in charge of “strategic relations and consultations with local governments, local government organizations and others.”

Kahlon has been given the rest of the portfolio, including financial and other support to local governments, management of cross-government programs related to local governments, and consultation with ministries, agencies, other governments, First Nations and other interested parties.

This means municipalities will have an additional avenue for outreach directly to the premier’s office through Anderson, particularly on rural issues. Money provided to municipalities and across-government work involving local governments will be under Kahlon’s purview.

Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward said it is clear the election demonstrated a desire among voters for change, particularly in the Fraser Valley where the NDP were mostly shut out by John Rustad’s Conservatives.

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He sees the shifts to how the province handles municipal affairs as a potentially positive step in the right direction, but warns that there are still few details about how Eby, Kahlon and Anderson will work together.

“It remains to be seen what that’s going to look like, until the mandate letters come out, how that’s going to be structured. I mean, my initial concern is that, will the premier have the necessary time, while being the premier, to also be the minister of municipal affairs when it comes to co-ordinating with cities?” said Woodward.

As for the new Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, Woodward was more pessimistic, saying it sends “a clear message that they stand by their approach to housing” and adding he expects the province to continue imposing housing targets on municipalities, even those already feeling stress from population growth.

Not all mayors agree with Woodward’s criticism of the province’s housing policies.

New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone saying he understands the status quo around housing development was not working.

Johnstone also believes that combining municipal affairs with housing makes sense, given it remains one of the key issues for local governments. But he said there is still a long way to go when it comes to other priorities such as schools.

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“It’s all kind of good to build housing, but schools across B.C. are overcrowded, and unless we see some big, massive investment in those types of infrastructure, we’re just not rebuilding local communities,” he said.

“So a municipal affairs minister has to have a strong voice in cabinet for a lot of the other things that cities need as well.”

Kahlon said the entire point of his new role is to help municipalities build some of those needed amenities, such as sewage infrastructure, that are needed to get housing built, and which mayors like Woodward have often criticized the province for not helping enough with.

As for construction of schools and hospitals, the minister said that will fall under Bowinn Ma, who has been handed the Ministry of Infrastructure.

“Whether that’s our side with the direct dollars for amenities, or whether it’s the social infrastructure, hospitals and schools, we’re going to be able to, between our two ministries, collaborate to make sure that those things are being done in communities in a more effective and efficient way,” said Kahlon.

Outside the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, mayors believe Anderson’s role could be critical in giving rural communities the representation they need at the cabinet table.

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Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell says he doesn’t know Anderson well but is looking forward to working with her on some of the challenges his town faces. He commended the Kootenay Central MLA for her background in agriculture and local government in Nelson.

“Brittny, being rural, Brittny also having worked in water and, you know, dirt jobs, agriculture, things like that. I think that grounds her and will get her that lack of skepticism from local leaders when she comes out,” said Blackwell.

“I’ve met her a couple of times, I don’t think I’ve ever really had a long conversation with her, but she does seem very real. Her online presence is very real, and I think that’s going to go a long way toward bridging that gap between the rural and urban divide.”

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