Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan was one of 86 mayors at the first B.C. Mayors' Caucus last month.
The caucus - led by a steering committee headed by Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts - met on May 17 and 18 to discuss provincial issues affecting local governments in B.C.
The caucus called for talks with Premier Christy Clark and cabinet, to find a more efficient use of B.C.'s resources to address residents' challenges, according to a press release from the event's organizers.
The mayors asked that the provincial government create a premier's roundtable to discuss public policy changes that affect local government with the caucus.
Other recommendations put forward by the caucus include:
- Develop a "sustainable, accountable, quantifiable" granting process that allows for long-term planning by local governments;
- Have the municipal auditor general look at the impacts of downloading service obligations on local governments;
- Develop a round table discussion on aging infrastructure with other levels of government;
- Affirm the core service delivery of each order of government;
- Redesign the cost-sharing formula for major infrastructure projects to reflect tax revenue distribution;
- Identify sustainable revenue sources for any service obligations passed down to the local level of government;
- Develop a coordinated approach for how social services are delivered into a community;
- Call for a full review of ambulance service delivery;
- Make the federal gas tax flexible, so that it is goal-oriented for the priorities of the specific communities;
- Expand the application of the fair share principles provincewide and include other industry sectors.
The caucus is designed to be similar to other such organizations across North America and Europe, including the Alberta Mayors' Caucus; Canada's Big Cities Mayors' Caucus and Atlantic Mayors' Congress; Metropolitan Mayors' Caucus in the United States; and the European Summit of Mayors.
The next caucus is scheduled for September in Victoria.
