Five sails of the Vancouver Convention Centre
Politics

Mark Vonesch going to the Union of BC Municipalities Convention 

The Union of BC Municipalities 2024 Convention is in Vancouver this week. Local government and First Nations leaders from across the province are participating. One of the delegates is Mark Vonesch, the Regional Director for Cortes Island, who spoke to Cortes Currents via ZOOM as he was heading out on the ferry last Friday. 

Mark Vonesch – courtesy SRD website

Mark Vonesch: “I’m on my way to a gathering that happens every year.  All the municipalities, all the regional districts, the counsellors, the electoral area directors, and mayors are invited to a five day conference where we do workshops. We learn from each other. We hear speeches and  we have a lot of meetings with the provincial government. We have a five or six meeting set-up through the regional district to meet with different ministers of the provincial government and advocate for everything from housing to our roads.”

“Hundreds of millions of dollars flow through UBCM to municipalities and regional districts through the provincial government. It’s one of the main lobbying organizations connecting regional districts and municipalities to the provincial government.  There’s hundreds of resolutions that get voted on and then become priorities to UBCM executives and staff. Throughout the rest of the year, those are advocated for and policy is suggested and pushed forward to the provincial government.”

“One of the big things we’re pushing for is getting a rural housing stream through the provincial government. Right now, all the housing grants are  done through one category. We believe there needs to be a separate category for rural places, because our needs are different. The ways we build are different, and it should be a different category.” 

“That’s one of the things we’re pushing for, but it’s a real opportunity for me to get in front of provincial ministers and staff and advocate for the needs of Cortes and the needs for the Strathcona Regional District. It’s an opportunity for me to network and work with my colleagues in the regional district, other board members, and create more unity on our board as we move forward on our priorities. It’s a chance for me to  make connections with other politicians across the province that are trying to get good things done, and learn from each other.”

“I don’t want to have to reinvent the wheel on ideas.  A big part of getting together is learning from each other, having conversations with other politicians that are looking at similar issues, and what they’ve done. A lot of times we can duplicate that.”

Entrance to the Pan Pacific Hotel – Photo by H=Jeff Hitchcock via Flickr (CC By 2.0)

“One of the exciting things for me at this UBCM is that I’ve been nominated to be the electoral area representative on the UBCM executive. There’s another person running. So I’ll also be running a bit of a campaign while I’m down there and we’ll see what happens. If I do get in, it’s a great opportunity for me  to have a stronger voice with the provincial government to get the things we want to happen on Cortes, but also be a representative  for rural communities. They are often underrepresented because a lot of the population is in urban centers, but a lot of the land base is held in rural communities. Our needs are unique and I want to be a strong voice to represent them.” 

Cortes Currents: You mentioned housing, are there other issues you want to bring up at the conference?   

Mark Vonesch: “There are hundreds of resolutions that are going through.”  

“One of the resolutions is that UBCM no longer take any corporate sponsorship from fossil fuel companies. Right now, FortisBC is the biggest sponsor of UBCM. The different pipelines and oil and gas companies are part of our economy in BC, but the question is should they be able to sponsor the biggest meeting of government officials in the province.” 

“I’m going to be voting in favour of the resolution. I don’t think that fossil fuel companies should be sponsoring these events. I think it’s a conflict of interest.  We are facing a growing climate crisis and it’s complex because it’s a  part of our economy. We just need to push really hard on having a just transition so  that people have good jobs, a roof over their heads,  feed their families and have a good life without having to rely on something that’s ultimately harming our future generations and contributing  a  deepening crisis around the world.  I’m not saying we should  just shut fossil fuel companies down right away, but I think it’s a responsible decision to not let them sponsor these events.”  

We are looking forward to an update after Mark returns from the convention.

Links of Interest:

Set featured image: Part of the Union of BC Municipalities will take place at the Pan Pacific Hotel – Photo by Bryce Edwards via Flickr (CC by 2.0)

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