Community Services Minister Ida Chong’s announcement Thursday has confirmed that the entire valley-wide governance review was a waste of time. Chong launched the process out of the blue last fall, insisting that there was a need to come up with new ways of governing the Okanagan. She deemed the issue to be so important that she only gave a committee of politicians until the end of March to come up with recommendations. But what was a hot, burning issue has now fizzled. Chong has decided that there will be no change to governance structure now, partly because there will be municipal elections in the fall. But it should have come as no shock to the minister that there would be elections in November. It happens every three years. Chong goes on to say that her staff will continue to analyze the situation. But don’t expect anything will happen after that because there will be a provincial election next spring, and the government won’t want to upset voters. There is nothing wrong with looking at new ways of governance, but all Chong’s process did was waste time and money. It also led to considerable unnecessary anxiety and frustration as residents feared they would have no say over any changes, and that forced amalgamations would occur. Chong says she is still interested in a governance model that works for the Okanagan, but she still has never identified what is exactly wrong with the system we have now. What is it about regional districts that she finds problematic? Until Chong can answer that question in a clear and concise manner, the concept of governance changes should be abandoned.
1 comment:
Chong should resign now. She did not do what she promised,incurred expenses for nothing and wasted the time of local elected politicians.
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