Broad field of resolutions brought forward in first flush of regional issues

13 resolutions and counting

Photo: Timothy Schafer

The elected officials of Nelson have thrown their resolve behind 13 resolutions with the resolute intent of the baker’s dozen being resolvable at the Kootenay Boundary local government level.

On Feb. 4 six councillors and Mayor Janice Morrison entertained several ideas for resolutions to submit for consideration at the 2025 Association of Kootenay Boundary Local Governments (AKBLG) annual general meeting April 25-27.

Each year, member municipalities are able to submit resolutions prior to the AKBLG meeting for consideration, discussion and voting on by membership, the narrowed list being presented to the Union of B.C. Municipalities at its annual convention, and ultimately landing on the doorstep of the Legislative Assembly of B.C. for consideration by the provincial legislature.

Resolutions are expected to be relevant to other local governments within AKBLG rather than specific to a single member government, and must be endorsed by the respective board of directors (regional districts) or councils.

For Nelson’s council, it was a night of agreements in principle and wordsmithing as they compiled a list of 13 resolutions, discussing and formulating the intent of the resolutions the city would bring forward.

“It is important that the gist of the resolution be agreed upon,” city chief administrative officer Kevin Cormack instructed councillors at the outset of the discussion.

And the depth and breadth of the intent, said Mayor Janice Morrison.

“The whole thing is it is all there to have some good conversation. And I think these are all broad topics,” she said.

The topics include: Civic education and secondary schools; rural transportation; rural health transportation; first-past-the-post voting system; water security; repeat offenders; homeless population and police resources; and a regional approach to homelessness.

As well, council will include resolutions on the detox and rehab beds system, an integrated border enforcement team, economic diversification and tourism, interprovincial trade barriers and speculation on housing.

Council will look at the resolutions again at its Feb. 18 meeting — a special meeting to deal with the resolutions — once the documents have been written by city staff, and some resolutions may be voted off the island and not submitted to the AKBLG.