Mayor Simon Yu has directed city administration pursue provincial government funding to pay for capital projects such as replacement worn-out infrastructure and that was one of the topics tackled this week by the city’s standing committee on intergovernmental affairs.
Prince George was not included in the Resource Benefit Alliance (RBA), a fair share agreement deal between the province and 21 local governments across northwestern BC from Masset to Vanderhoof. Announced in February, it will result in $250 million in funding from the province over the next five years.
Coun. Brian Skakun suggested the best way to expedite a similar deal for Prince George is to hire a staff member with the skillset required to apply for grants.
“I think if we get someone that’s got connections in government and knows what to do, we have to do something because we got screwed, in my opinion, on that $250 million in infrastructure,” said Skakun. “How did that happen?
“We need another voice working behind the scenes that can navigate the political system. We’re losing our industrial tax base (with mill closures). Can Prince George go on its own for its own fair share agreement of some type? It would be lot easier for the province to support one local government than a dozen of them.”
Fair share agreements address challenges rural local governments encounter raising revenue needed to make critical investments in local infrastructure investments and pay for services to support industrial development.
“Northeast had it first,” said Coun. Garth Frizzell. “The idea was that they had a lot of development outside of municipalities, so places like Fort St. John get a lot of benefit from it, otherwise they’d get no taxation from industry that was just outside of their region, places like Taylor.
“It was a one-off for the northeast and then it was one-off in the northwest and now we have to do work for a third one.”
Eric Depenau, the city’s director of administrative services, plans to survey the architects of the RBA deal in the northwest and the Peace River Agreement that secured provincial capital funding for eight northeastern communities to learn exactly how those deals were concocted.
Coun. Kyle Sampson said the city will have to identify who it will partner with in the lobbying process, whether it’s the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation or Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, and what will be asked of them regarding funding commitments or staff time.
Tuesday’s meeting at city hall outlined the workplan for the first two months of 2025 and rehashed items referred to the committee this year.
Bringing new MLAs into the fold
Connecting with the three new local MLA’s – Rosalyn Bird, Sheldon Clare and Kiel Giddens - to brief them up to speed on local issues is a priority. The three Prince George MLAs who will be sworn in on Tuesday are replacing Shirley Bond and Mike Morris, who have a combined 40 years of experience in provincial politics and a long record of representing the city’s interests in Victoria.
The intergovernmental affairs committee also plans to touch base with the new NDP government and hopes to meet with the auditor-general and finance minister once Premier David Eby announces his cabinet on Nov. 18.
The city also plans to reach out to the Green Party and its two elected MLAs who can potentially sway votes, with the NDP holding only a 47-44 majority over the Conservatives.
There will be plenty of new faces in Legislature. Fifteen of the 27 ministers in Eby’s cabinet before the election are not returning to government and the NDP won just five seats outside of the Lower Mainland or Vancouver Island, so there will be plenty of shuffling of cabinet posts.
Coun. Frizzell noted the change in election boundaries brings Quesnel into the conversation as part of Giddens' Prince George-North Cariboo riding.
The intergovernmental affairs committee plans to meet the first Tuesday of each month of 2025, except for July.
