Social issues may dominate convention

By Ron Seymour Sunday, October 22, 2006 http://www.dailycourier.ca/article_640.php
Social issues are expected to get a thorough airing next week at a convention of B.C.’s local politicians.Topics related to housing, homelessness and health are likely to figure prominently at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria, Kelowna Coun. Robert Hobson says.“A lot of new councillors and mayors were elected last year, and this will be the first UBCM convention for them,” Hobson said Friday.“I think a lot of them are what you might call from the left or the centre of the political spectrum, so there’s likely to be more discussion about social issues,” Hobson said. “In the past, many of the UBCM resolutions and debate centred on economic issues,” said Hobson, who is running for the position of second vice-president.There are a record 166 resolutions to be debated at this year’s UBCM gathering, which starts Monday. There are no council meetings next week in any Okanagan towns or cities, as many local politicians will be at the convention.Some resolutions advanced by Okanagan municipal councils for consideration at the convention include:• Kelowna calls on the provincial government to increase welfare rates.• Penticton wants the government to make it mandatory for skateboarders to wear a helmet and to allow municipalities to use marked gas, which has less tax on it, in fleet vehicles.• The North Okanagan regional district wants the government to require more community consultation by educational authorities prior to school closures or sales of buildings.• Peachland calls for a new water quality notification system because the current one is confusing to the public.Many of the resolutions deal with fairly ordinary civic issues, such as requests for reinstatement of downtown revitalization grants, greater efforts to control the pine beetle, increased funding for libraries and greater flexibility to pursue affordable housing solutions.But, as with any UBCM gathering, there are also a few seemingly offbeat resolutions advanced by municipal councils for consideration.Vancouver, for example, wants a provincial program to alert people to the hazards of bedbugs, and the Central Kootenay Regional District wants a new law requiring slow drivers to pull over if five or more cars are bunched up behind them.