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

By LeRae Haynes

Mayor Kerry Cook and members of City Council, including Councillor Geoff Bourdon, are at the Pan Pacific in Vancouver tonight, attending the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention.

Councillor Geoff Bourdon said that one of the forums he attended today was on the RCMP contract, which comes up for renewal in 2012. “They’re getting started early, looking for cooperation between the municipalities, the provincial and federal governments,” he said.

"We also attended a reception put on by Terasen Gas, talking about the Winter Olympics. Mayor Kerry Cook and I went to the Vancouver International Airport and watched the unveiling of the promotional video of our area,” he continued, adding that Williams Lake was chosen as one of 15 cities in BC to be included in video presentations at the airport. “It’s on the biggest screen in the airport---this is awesome for us. This is another example of our Economic Development Department really contributing to the improvement of residual tourism.”

He said that he and Councillor Natalie Montoya also attended a meet-and-greet for elected officials under 30 years of age. Out of 1,900 elected officials, only 20 were under 30, and two of them were from Williams Lake.

“The reception was interesting. Everyone had exactly the same concerns, and facing a group of older councillors was the biggest challenge,” he said. “One common belief was that if all young people knew what we know, and see what we’ve seen, a lot more of them would get involved in politics because of the difference we can make.”

He said that one consensus of the group of 20 was that the most important thing they can do is to educate the younger generations. “It was motivating, because 10 years down the road, I can be a leader,” he explained.

Councillor Bourdon and Councillor Montoya were among the most well-spoken and articulate of the group, and Geoff said that another thing that made Williams Lake stand out is how far ahead the City is in its Integrated Community Sustainability Plan. “The reason we’re so far ahead is that our plan addresses every aspect of our community, from the left to the right, from arts to industry and from youth to the experienced,” he said.

“It was hopeful. The answer may not be youth, but the future is youth. Young people need to get into politics now while there are stable leaders to learn from,” he said. “My plea to any youth remotely interested in politics is that nothing happens overnight, but that you can have a great influence over time.”

Tomorrow City Council meets with BC Ministers.

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