Tom Fletcher - BC Local News Published: July 07, 2010 3:00 PM
VICTORIA – The B.C. Liberal cabinet has approved an overhaul of local election laws that will see terms of office extended to four years and new spending limits imposed on candidates in time for civic elections in 2011.
Community and Rural Development Minister Ben Stewart said Wednesday he expects new legislation to be drafted in time for debate in the spring 2011 session of the legislature. The spending limits are to be worked out after discussions at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention this fall. The biggest difficulty is setting spending limits that work for big communities, where developers and municipal unions finance campaigns, and small towns where there are few donations and sometimes few candidates for local councils and school boards.
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ELECTIONS TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS GET GREEN LIGHT
VICTORIA – Cabinet has given the green light to move forward with implementing the 31 Local Government Elections Task Force recommendations for improving local elections, announced Minister of Community and Rural Development Ben Stewart. “The Province is now in a position to proceed with drafting the legislation necessary to implement the recommendations,” said Stewart. “We expect the legislation to be introduced next spring, in time for the local elections in November 2011. There is a lot of hard work ahead to flesh out the details of the recommendations, such as how to establish expense limits that will work in B.C.’s diverse communities, but we’re confident the end result will have a positive impact on the elections process.”
On May 28, 2010, the Task Force delivered its recommendations to the Province of B.C. and UBCM in the Report of the Local Government Elections Task Force.
2 comments:
What an assine to give councillors a four year term. Can you imagine the latitude they will have in raising their pay?
Will we get recall legislation for mayors and councillors as well?
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