NCLGA President and Prince George Councillor Cori Ramsay (File photo: CKPG Today).

By Stephanie Swensrude

NORTHERN BC CONVENTION

Public safety, justice reform on deck for discussion at Northern Central Local Government Association convention

May 1, 2022 | 7:55 AM

FORT ST. JOHN — Leaders from northern communities are going to Fort St. John on Tuesday (May 3) for the annual Northern Central Local Government Association (NCLGA) convention.

Established in the 1950s, the NCLGA is a group of more than 40 municipalities in northern and central B.C. The NCLGA jurisdiction covers 70 per cent of B.C.’s landmass.

The goal of the convention is to come up with requests that will be forwarded to the provincial and federal governments.

Prince George Councillor Cori Ramsay is the president of the NCLGA.

“Minister meetings, as you know, are an opportunity to advocate for resolutions. The main difference for the NCLGA Board is that when NCLGA walks into the room we are representing 39 local governments across North Central BC,” said Ramsay.

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“We bring with us authentic stories so that we can showcase why the resolution is a priority, how it might negatively impact our communities, or how we can work together to make something better,” she said.

Leaders will bring issues to the table at this convention, find a possible solution, and then decide which solutions they’ll ask the provincial and federal governments to cover.

One area mentioned in the agenda is justice reform. The leaders want to “advocate for the dismantling and rebuilding of the Criminal Justice Act … to include trauma informed education, prevention, treatment and a focus on truth and reconciliation at the local, provincial and federal levels.”

Representatives from Terrace and Campbell River mention prolific offenders, saying they’re routinely released without consequences or meaningful conditions. They want to ask the provincial government to consider public safety and fairness when dealing with prolific offenders.

The NCLGA also wants to lobby the province to increase the budget for road and bridge rehabilitation, as they say “provincial spending on transportation is insufficient to maintain provincial highways and bridges across the province”.

Prince George is asking the province to increase funding for public libraries from $14 million to $22 million, and to keep funding at a sustainable level for years to come. Smithers and Burns Lake will put forward similar requests, saying public library funding is “stagnant”.

After debating which motions to move forward, representatives will bring forward requests at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention in September.

A list of all potential requests can be found in the meeting agenda.