Politicians from the Okanagan will converge on Vernon Friday to debate valley-wide governance. Directors from all three regional districts will hold an unprecedented meeting at the Best Western Vernon Lodge at 9 a.m. The focus will be the governance review process initiated by the provincial government late last year. “The purpose of the meeting is to bring all three regional districts up to date on the work done by the ad hoc committee and to give direction, to debate it, ask questions and provide ideas,” said Jerry Oglow, North Okanagan Regional District chairman and committee member. Friday’s meeting is open to the public to observe discussions. “It’s really important that the people be aware of the debate going on,” said Oglow.“It’s an open and transparent process. There’s no hidden agenda.”
The committee looking at how the valley should be managed has broken down its work into four sub-groups — water, air quality, transportation and governance. Four potential governance options have been put forward, and the status quo of three regional districts isn’t one of them.The models being considered are merging the three regional districts into one, something similar to metro Vancouver where it’s primarily municipalities involved, expanding the Okanagan Basin Water Board concept to include other issues, or following an Ontario model.In Waterloo and Muskoka, electoral areas are absorbed into existing municipalities to become district municipalities or townships. The new areas would be divided into wards and a director for each ward would be elected to municipal council.Rural politicians have recently expressed concern that their communities’ needs are being ignored during the review.
The committee must submit a final report to the provincial government by the end of March. “The timeline has inspired all of us to put our heads down and develop some options. We’re not pointing to any one solution yet,” said Oglow.
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