Hello,
This holiday season I wish you warmth, brightness, and new memories with those you love. This report touches on our OCP process and shares news on ‘budget season’, plus community gratitude.
Official Community Plan process
Big thanks to the folks that attended the OCP Open Houses on Quadra in November! It was great to see thoughtful comments being shared on Agriculture, Parks, Housing, our Local Economy, Water, Waste, & more. If you missed these open houses, have no fear: SRD staff are planning a series of meetings on Quadra to dive into specific topics and the feedback they’ve received so far; a schedule will be shared in the new year. For Outer Discovery Islanders, SRD Planning staff are developing a community engagement OCP workbook and planning a mailout of this workbook to Outer Discovery Islands & remote folks in Area C.
If you want to read up on what Quadra’s current OCP states, it’s available as a link on this page: srd.ca/area-c-ocp. And, if you have thoughts on changes you’re interested in being considered, or items you really like and want to be sure are included in a revised OCP, you don’t need to wait for an official meeting to share them, you can email your thoughts to planning@srd.ca.
Budget season ahead
It’s budget season for local governments. Directors look at data from staff, including projections of future needs, and budget accordingly. These days many folks are experiencing an affordability crunch and keeping tax increases to a minimum is my goal.
Budget unknowns ahead
On December 5th, at a Committee of the Whole meeting, SRD Directors discussed grants-in-aid: the discussion centred on regional grants and instituting a policy for grants.
Currently, the SRD provides regional grants in a limited and ad-hoc way. However, the City of Campbell River recently instituted a Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) which limits the support they’ve historically provided to nonprofit and arts & culture groups. At the Committee meeting, Directors received a letter from the City which stated, ‘organizations that provide services to residents within the City and beyond the City into the Regional District will no longer qualify for financial assistance’.
The letter from the City continued, ‘Council has directed staff to request that the Strathcona Regional District consider establishing a grant program and policy to financially support these non-profit organizations in 2026 so that they are not negatively impacted by changes brought on by the FAP’. The letter from the City did not outline the organizations or quantity of grants this may entail, but it sounds like it will certainly be an increase from what the SRD has budgeted in previous years.
To my mind, setting up a policy and program like this requires thoughtful consideration including information on how other regional districts are doing this work. For this reason, I made a motion that staff report on how other similar Regional Districts are managing regional and rural grants in aid, and that the report include other grant policies as available. Unfortunately, this motion was defeated, a vote of 6-7. While Campbell River compared themselves to nine municipalities during the creation of their financial assistance policy, it seems SRD Directors will not be provided information on how other Districts are managing grants before creating a policy and grant program. Directors will consider a definition of ‘regional benefit’ at a January 29 Committee of the Whole meeting. I’ll be sure to share more when I know more.
Cheers & gratitude!
Everywhere I turn there are so many Islanders sharing their energy and expertise in our community, working to make this a better place for us all. I am constantly grateful to so many of you working on so many different things: a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU from me for investing your time in building community. Cheers to you!
Connect
Thanks for reading! As the Discovery Islander isn’t in mailboxes during their press transition, I have a favour to ask… if you have a friend or neighbour who generally reads my report in the DI, it would be super if you could forward this email to them.
As always, you’re welcome to connect with me with questions or concerns: email RMawhinney@srd.ca, or call 250.203.2468. Please note that I’ll be stepping away from work devices for a few days over the holidays to spend time & share cookies with family & friends.
Looking for info? Visit RobynMawhinney.ca for links to helpful community resources and ‘back issues’ of Director Reports, and srd.ca for meeting agendas, minutes and much more.
Happy Holidays!
Respectfully,
Director Robyn Mawhinney
All photos by Robyn Mawhinney; top image credit: driftwood scouring Quadra’s eastern shore