TCYHA 8oanl 2014-2015 17 February 2015 President Greg Pasychny, Mayor, Edson, A8 Past President Mayor Lyn Hall Loranne Martin, Mayor, McBride BC City of Prince George President Elect Zach Jeffries, Councillor, SK 1100 Patricia Boulevard Vice President BC Bill Kershaw, Director Thompson Nicola RD Prince George, BC V2L 3V9 Vice President AB Bev Esslinger, CounciJlor, Vice President SK Your Worship, Randy Goulden. Councillor. Vire President MB Ray Orr, Mayor, Minnedosa RE: Membership - Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway Association Directors: Directors Ralph Roy, Director, RD 8ulkley-Nechako We are writing you to ask if the City would consider restoring its membership Ken Starchu~ Director, RD Fraser-Fort George Sandy Salt, Councillor, Terrace in the Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway Association. In 2011 your Shelley Wall, Sums Lake & District Chamber Directors predecessor met with our Managing Director and explained that because of Paul Smith. Councillor. Strathcona County dire economic circumstances that the City was no longer able to support the Helen Kelleher-Empy, CouncilJor, Jasper Daniel Warawa, Couacillor, Lamont County Association. We accepted her explanation. Clint McCullough, Councillor, Vennilion Sask3tchcwaD Directors Lachlan Cummine. Councillor, Ian Hamilton, Mayor, North Banleford We would hope that the City of Prince George is now able to reconsider Zach Jeffries, Councillor, Saskatoon Directors rejoining the Association and providing leadership to the Association from 8ud Sigurdson, Deputy Mayor, Gladstone 8 rent 8unon, Deputy Mayor, 8inscarth Northwest BC We hope that our membership fee structure was not an issue. Merv Stanyk, Deputy Mayor, Shoal Lake Our fee is based on $_ 15 per capita which I believe is modest for most Appointed Directors/ Committee Chairs: Director At Large: municipal budgets. In the case of Prince George the fee is $11,341.35. While Bud Sigurdson, Deputy Mayor, Gladstone. ~ Memberslup Chair: your fee is important to us, it is not as critical as being able to represent a Alan Cayford, Life Member, Lloydminster, SK critical mass of communities along the Yellowhead. Staff Relations Chair: Jack Wright, Life Member Marketing Chair: Ken Fiske, Edmonton, AB It is critical that as an advocacy group for the Yellowhead from to Highway Development Chairs: Richard N. Coleman, Vcgreville AB Prince Rupert and to Hope on Highway #5 we have influence when we truly Miles Latimer, Streamstown. AB represent all communities along the Yellowhead. The Yellowhead Highway Resolutions Chair: Tammy Strang. Councillor, Edson, AB competes with other priorities of senior governments and with other Director Emeritus: Ron Hayter. Life Member, Edmonton. AB highways_ Individual municipalities have neither the resources nor the clout SecreU.ry & Managing Director: Don Grimble to compete for improvements for example with municipalities in the Lower Fraser. The Yellowhead exists because the communities along the northern C.A.O. John Wojcicki tier of the western provinces persevered in lobbying governments for a highway even though the Federal Government had made a decision to route Trans Canada #1 route through the south and through Rogers Pass_ It was not until 1971 that the Yellowhead Highway was completed and paved.

The City of Prince George was one of the first proponents of the Yellowhead Highway going back to the mid 1930's. At that time Prince George was land locked and did not have road connections to the east That advocacy activity was suspended by WWII. In 1947 Prince George joined with the other communities along the Yellowhead Route to advocate for designation

TRANS CANADA YELLOWHEAD HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION - est'd 1947 - #3, 9343 50 STREET EDMONTON, AB, T6B 2L5 PH: (780) 761-3800 EMAIL : admin@ye llowhead it.com www. ye II owhe ad it. com as the first Trans-Canada Highway to be built under the Trans-Canada Highway Act of 1949. A number of people from Prince George have taken leadership roles with the Association over the years and whose services were recognized by the Association by receiving our Builder's Award.

Our current focus is to advocate for a National Highway Policy for Canada and as part of that policy to build the Trans Canada highways to a high standard i.e. four lane freeway standard. The Yellowhead would be part of that network. Currently the Trans Canada #1 is built to a four lane standard from the Manitoba- border to the British Columbia- Alberta border with various twinned sections between there and where the Yellowhead becomes the Coquihalla.

The Government of BC has committed to a goal of twinning the BC portions of Trans Canada #1 between Kamloops and Golden. The Government of Canada is participating but has not committed to its portions in Yoho and Glacier National Parks. We do not argue with this goal because of the significance of Trans Canada #1 as an east west connector.

However our belief is that the country should not have all its eggs in one basket especially given the winter conditions in the Rogers Pass. The Yellowhead is a more secure and reliable route which is seldom closed because of weather conditions. The entire Yellowhead route is located at lower elevations and with very few grades. Most of the route is located in the bottom of broad valleys. Construction costs are significantly lower as a result. We believe the Yellowhead should be constructed to that same standard. At the moment the only four lane twinned portion of the Yellowhead is from Hinton AB to Saskatoon SK.

Prince George is the largest community in northern BC. It is a transportation hub for all modes of travel; road, rail and air. A recent article in the Prince George Citizen (December 14, 2014) titled "Nation's economy drives through Prince George" clearly sets out the role of the City and the importance of transportation investments such as highways. As the article states both the Province of BC and the Federal Government are in the process of assessing their transportation strategies. The Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway Association has had a long history advocating for the interests of the Yellowhead. However it makes our task of advocating for this vision difficult when one of the principal beneficiaries, Prince George, is not willing to participate.

Over the years we have had strong support from your neighbouring municipalities and the regional districts. Those communities depend on the highway for their economic well-being whether it be from accessing resource developments or attracting visitors. Every highway improvement, large or small, makes those communities better places to live. As the largest community we would hope that you recognize an obligation to support your neighbours who have the least clout.

As any organization that focuses on advocacy especially for infrastructure, the results

TRANS CANADA YELLOWHEAD HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION - est'd 1947 - #3, 9343 50 STREET EDMONTON, AB, T6B 2L5 PH: (780) 761-3800 EMAIL: [email protected] www. ye II owh ead it. com of our efforts only bear fruit over long periods of time. We cannot show you annual tangible results.

However we continue to do other things specifically to promote the use of the highway which in turn adds value to our advocacy for improvements. We offer our members an opportunity to market their communities to a wider audience than each member can do on their own. We publish a Travel Guide for highway visitors. We try to attract visitors to choose our route when travelling across as an alternative to Trans Canada #1. Making our route more attractive also enhances our case for a National Highway Policy that includes the Yellowhead. Our guide, called "YellowheadlT", has a distribution of 75,000 copies widely distributed in western Canada, most often through Visitor Information Centers, and to international visitors. We also offer the Guide online through our website "yellowheadit.com". We permit any business within a member municipality to post a listing on our website for free and for a fee to post advertisement such as banner ads etc. In the world of internet marketing the more listings the more the more attention you receive from web search engines and the higher your ranking.

We can only offer this benefit because we have a critical mass of members and can act collectively for all very cheaply: more cheaply than each member on their own. Our role is not to be a substitute for anyone's individual responsibility but to add reach. Having the City of Prince George adds value to that goal and helps all.

I would welcome an opportunity to speak with you about the Association. You can contact me directly on my cell at 780.723.0302 or email [email protected].

Yours truly,

Greg Pasychny (Mayor, Edson AB) President TCYHA

TRANS CANADA YELLOWHEAD HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION - est'd 1947 - #3, 9343 50 STREET EDMONTON, AB , T68 2L5 PH: (780) 7 61-3800 EMAI L: [email protected] www. yel l owhead it. com