Mayor Simon Yu has directed city staff to pursue provincial government funding to pay for capital projects such as replacement worn-out infrastructure.
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.
