News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

Williams Lake Mayor and Council have taken advantage of opportunities to meet with Provincial Cabinet Ministers while attending the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in Vancouver.

A meeting with Premier Christy Clark in her Vancouver office covered important topics such as the need for resource development revenue sharing with local governments in the Cariboo and the Province of B.C.’s new Jobs Plan and the contributions Williams Lake and the region can make in the mining industry and post-secondary training to meet demand for workers.

A meeting with Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Ida Chong further stressed the need for local governments to access revenues from adjacent resource development and emphasized the importance of the Towns for Tomorrow program for small and mid-sized communities and the need for the program to continue in the future.

Discussions with the Solicitor General and acting Attorney General Shirley Bond centered on the need for provincial support for a Crime Analyst position in Williams Lake and the need for a new funding formula for Police-based Victim Services that better reflects the high case loads of the police and the courts. All meetings were attended by MLA Donna Barnett, who was recently given the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Communities to the Minister of Community Sport and Cultural Development.

“Our meetings were very positive and we took the opportunity to thank the Premier and Ministers for their past support of the City’s initiatives and needs,” says Mayor Kerry Cook. “Moving forward, we stressed the need for collaboration among the Cariboo communities and the importance the Province’s support for our various initiatives to address economic development, crime reduction and sustainable revenues.”

The Mayor met with the Premier three more times, including giving a presentation as the chair of the Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition (CCBAC).

She also presented on how advanced education opportunities for international students relates to economic development at a Mayor’s Roundtable with Minister of Advanced Education Naomi Yamamoto and Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell, and presented to a Keeping Communities Safe strategies workshop on success with crime reduction and Williams Lake’s Communities That Care program.

“We were then approached from the federal Regional Director National Crime Prevention Centre about applying for dollars to mitigate gang activity,” Mayor Cook says. Our success so far has placed us on her radar.”

The Mayor also attended a number of Minister meetings with the Cariboo Regional District in support of many regional issues that affect Williams Lake.

The UBCM Convention wrapped up today following an address from the Premier.

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