By Jennifer Smith - Kelowna Capital News - February 15, 2008
Worries about taxes, more bureaucracy and accountability of unelected officials, greet consultant pushing proposal. Kelowna city councillors do not want to see another level of government which is not accountable to the public and has little real power, they told a consultant tasked with pitching a new Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Governance system. In the first of 19 consultations being held in the region, which extends from Enderby to Osoyoos, consultant Allan Neilsen-Welch explained what a group of regional government representatives have come up with to deal with regional issues like air and water quality. “There’s a growing sense that a lot of these area-wide issues are really managed most effectively on an area-wide basis,” said Neilsen-Welch, as he gave a quick history of the proposal. In November, Minister of Community Services Ida Chong asked members of the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District, the Central Okanagan Regional District and North Okanagan Regional District to create a working committee to examine area-wide governance options.
The committee has drafted three models for dealing with things like heritage programs, Crown lands, foreshore management, affordable housing, parks and trails. But as the first local government in the province to get a formal presentation on the committee’s work, Kelowna city councillors made it clear they have reservations about even broaching the topic.“I guess when I see something like this, it’s just more bureaucracy,” said Coun. Andre Blanleil, warning it could prove very ineffective if this third level of government curbed the ability of local governments to control their own destinies. “Everybody wants to plan their community; that’s why they get elected,” he said. “We already have regional directors and then we’re going to elect another layer on top of that?” For his part, Coun. Norm Letnick was concerned about how this body would remain accountable to the public and how it would receive funding. The committee’s recommendations look at creating one single regional district for the entire area, an inter-regional alliance or an inter-regional authority, though taxation has not been worked into the models. The alliance assumes the existing regional districts stay in place and that representatives from each district would make up a separate board dealing with Okanagan-wide issues.
The authority model might include more than one authority in the area to deal with specific issues and requisition tax dollars from local governments or regional districts to address their tasks. If it sounds complicated, Neilsen-Welch said there are more complicated systems out there. Alberta uses rural counties in addition to their municipal governments, while Ontario elects members to regional governments through a ward system. A recent mapping of New York City found there are 1,400 authorities working on different aspects of governing the area within its borders. To Kelowna’s city manager, the proposals before local governments in the Okanagan have an air of extra responsibility attached. “I don’t want to see regional issues used as just another sophisticated provincial download,” said Ron Mattiussi. With Kelowna being the dominant player in the Okanagan region, Mattiussi expressed concern its taxpayers could end up footing the majority of the bill for some items, noting everyone should pay for the services they use. “City council already takes a lot of heat for taxation and yet, only 58 per cent of that bill is the city’s bill,” Mattiussi said. For their parts, Couns. Colin Day and Barrie Clark warned another layer of government could lead to chaos. “It’s been my experience that you can have trouble getting elected members to get involved in the discussion; their focus was totally on their area,” said Clark. “We have to come up with a way of dealing with the issues without creating another level of government,” said Day. “If it doesn’t have the ability to collect money, it won’t get anything done. Another meeting. We really need more meetings,” he added in a sarcastic tone.
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Editorial Kelowna Capital news Feb 15 A difficult concept to sell
Attempts to sell the concept of an Okanagan-Similkameen Regional District have not received overwhelming support so far. The idea, with the apparent quiet blessing in the background of the provincial government, proposes the Okanagan-Similkameen, Central and North Okanagan Regional Districts be combined into one area-wide governance option. The theory goes that such an expanded regional governance body could be more effective dealing with regional issues like air and water quality, with the use of and location to Okanagan Lake being the common denominator that could unite the regional parochial interests. To the south, smaller rural areas have voiced concerns about losing influence to the larger centres. The same attitude has been echoed in the north. And now Kelowna council, the big player on the Central Okanagan regional board, is trying to distance themselves from the idea. Coun. Andre Blanleil says it seems like creating more bureaucracy with no authority, while Coun. Norm Letnick wonders about funding and accountability for such a new governing body. Couns. Colin Day and Barrie Clark predict political chaos if the idea comes to fruition. And those concerns are all potentially justified, as bigger is not always better. Just look at the Greater Vancouver Regional District, whose members constantly squabble and fight for the greater share of regional services for their individual communities. Within the GVRD, there is no shared vision, a lack of adequate funding for transit services, and no accountability as none of the directors are elected.Based on the GVRD’s example, local governments should look suspiciously for the moment to merging regional governance under one banner.
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