A North Okanagan politician believes there is little
chance of having a single valley-wide regional district. Stan Field, BX-Silver Star director, was one of two local representatives who met with counterparts from the Central and Okanagan-Similkameen regional districts last week to discuss a review of the valley’s governance.While there has been speculation about one regional district being formed, Field says that is unlikely.“I don’t believe that’s where the government wants to go either,” he said.A more likely option, according to Field, is some form of structure that looks at common matters such as water, air quality, economic development and transit.“There are a lot of valley-wide issues that can be talked about in time,” he said.
Jerry Oglow,
Armstrong mayor, disagrees with Field’s interpretation that one district is not an option.“It’s premature to say that because there’s been no discussion around that issue in any detail,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Community Services — which initiated the process — wants every option on the table.Some possible governance structure models have been identified and Oglow says they require further research.“We will prepare issue papers around the areas we want to look at,” he said.The governance committee must establish a work plan by the end of November, and a final report must be submitted to the ministry by the end of March.“I don’t think the timeline the province has given us is not realistic,” said Field.
All future committee meetings will be open to the public.“We want to give people an opportunity to sit in and listen to the discussions,” said Oglow.The next committee meeting is set for Nov. 26 in Kelowna.A workshop of all three regional districts is also being scheduled for Jan. 11 in Vernon.
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