CONNECTOR PRESIDENT’S CORNER No. 119 July 2013 NORTH CENTRAL MLA NOTES July is here...many consider this the Provincial Ministries: first month of summer holidays. Our Hon. kids are out of school and we can Minister Jobs, Tourism & Skills Training enjoy more time with them and Hon. family. So pack up the car, travel

Minister Community, Sport and Cultural Development trailer, or motor home and head out

Hon. to see our beautiful country! Have you been a tourist in your own town? Minister of Agriculture Try a “Staycation” some weekend. You will be Hon. amazed at what you can find in your own backyard. Minister Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Of course, the cost of fuel and the way prices often go up as the weekend approaches may hinder your Select Standing Committees: travel plans a bit. This is unfortunate, and an extra Aboriginal Affairs: burden on those of us who live and work in North Convener MLA Central BC. I wonder how this price fluctuation MLA affects tourism, and industry…or investment in general. Some industries operate under the Children and Youth: jurisdiction of a regulatory body that can fix prices MLA (like the BC Utilities Commission). In Prince Edward MLA Mike Bernier Island, retail gas prices are “set” each month by an MLA Doug Donaldson independent panel; this doesn’t guarantee low MLA prices, but it prevents the frequent “spikes” we endure in this province. I know gas prices are Crown Corporations: becoming an increasingly important issue in our Convener MLA region, and I would entertain any discussion aimed

at alleviating the problem. Health: MLA Donna Barnett In closing I would like to acknowledge recent news from Victoria (see the sidebar for the list of Cabinet Public Accounts: Ministers and Select Standing Committee MLA Mike Morris appointments). I would also like to congratulate Premier Clark on her by-election win earlier this Special Committee to Appoint an Auditor General: month. After leading her team to such a decisive MLA Mike Morris victory in May, I am sure they are delighted to have her lead them in the legislature. We look forward to collaborating with all our elected MLA’s as we work Opposition Shadow Cabinet :

together to build a better BC. Aboriginal Relations MLA Doug Donaldson Natural Gas Development MLA Robin Austin Have a great summer! Bruce D. Christensen Rural and Northern Health MLA Jennifer Rice NCLGA President

NCLGA OFFICE SUMMER BREAK The NCLGA office will close for the annual summer break on August 2nd

and will reopen August 19th.

Enjoy your summer!

UBCM CONVENTION REGISTRATION Registration is now open for the UBCM Convention. Register before August 2nd for the Early Bird Rate! www.civicinfo.bc.ca/event/ubcm2013.asp

North Central Local Government Association 206—155 George St., Prince George, BC V2L 1P8 Tel: (250) 564-6585 Fax: (250) 564-6514 Email: [email protected] Web: www.nclga.ca

QUESNEL CURLING CLUB TO BECOME NEW WELCOME COMMITTEE IN THE WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE FRASER-FORT GEORGE REGIONAL DISTRICT Quesnel City Council approved a letter of support and a donation of $750.00 from Council Projects to assist the Quesnel Curling Club in their efforts to become wheelchair accessible. The incentive for this project was initiated to recognize the contribution Alison Duddy has made to wheelchair curling throughout Canada. Quesnel’s own Alison Duddy was named CurlBC’s disabled athlete of the year for 2012-2013. Alison is a member of the BC Wheelchair Curling Provincial Champions who won the gold medal in the last two Provincial Championships and two consecutive medals at the National level. Alison was also one of the winners of NCLGA’s 2013 Measuring Up The North award for her efforts to promote accessible parking in the Gold Pan City. Congratulations Alison and the City of Quesnel!

FUNDING TO TRAIN RURAL BC PARAMEDICS $250,000 in funding to train paramedic 30 students was recently announced by Advance Education Minister . The new Primary Care Paramedic program is slated to be up by February 2014 and will be run by the Justice Institute of BC. Their will be two intakes of 15 students per year in rural communities in the Province. The first communities to benefit from the new program will be Prince George and Cranbrook.

KITIMAT RECOGNIZED FOR MASTER PLAN The District of Kitimat was the recipient UBCM EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS of the 2013 Canadian Institute of The advance nomination period for UBCM Execu- tive members is open until July 31st, 2013. Planners (CIP) “Vision in Planning”

Award, in recognition of the enduring Positions open to nomination include:

quality of the community’s original President Director at Large (5) Master Plan that was developed in 1952. 1st Vice President Small Community Rep. CIP represents a membership of 7,000 planning 2nd Vice President Electoral Area Rep. professionals from across Canada. The Vision in 3rd Vice President Vancouver Metro Rep (2) Planning Award recognizes community plans that have achieved or exceeded their intended For more information please visit: www.ubcm.ca expectations and represent a significant contribution to heritage planning in Canada. Way to go Kitimat! BUILDING ROADS WITH GAS TAX FUNDS IN BC UBCM will soon be discussing the renewal of the Gas Tax Agreement with the Provincial and Federal Governments, and in preparation for these discussions they will be sending out a survey to members. To provide context for the survey, a series of articles will be printed in the UBCM Compass newsletter about the current agreement.

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