TransLink Mayors’ Council gets to work on 10-Year Vision

Yesterday, I attended the third Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation meeting since the fall local government elections. The Mayors’ Council is one of the governing bodies of TransLink.

This meeting set the stage for the work the Mayors’ Council will complete over the next year. Earlier this week, I posted about the Mayors’ Council’s 10-Year Priorities Transportation Plan. The Mayors’ Council voted to endorse that Plan yesterday.

This Plan will be required to keep people moving and give people affordable travel options as our region grows. Currently, the new 10-Year Plan is unfunded. The priority of the Mayors’ Council will be to work with the federal and provincial governments to enable predictable, stable funding for TransLink to move the Plan forward.

As the Mayors’ Council has 23 members, the Council forms sub-groups to work on substantial policies, which get sent to the full Mayors’ Council for comment and, hopefully, eventual approval.

The Mayors’ Council sub-groups include:

Finance Committee — “This committee will provide input to and recommendations on the timing, pace and final shape for the next Investment Plan. In addition, the committee will be responsible for overseeing the Investment Plan’s funding strategy, and financial modelling and assumptions.”

Planning and Priorities Committee — “This committee will provide input on the processes and studies designed to prioritize TransLink plans, projects and services for funding and inclusion in upcoming investment plans. The committee will also be responsible for considering the development of other policy-related initiatives.”

Public Affairs and Governance Committee — “This committee’s mandate will primarily be external facing to provide input to communication and public advocacy efforts to secure senior government support for 10YP and the next Investment Plan. The committee will also consider the Council’s mandated “HR” responsibilities.”

Indigenous Relations Joint Advisory Working Group — “This joint working group was created in September 2022 to provide advice on the implementation of the reconciliation commitments in Transport 2050, including providing transit service to indigenous communities.”

Small Municipalities Caucus — “This caucus comprising the members of the 4-5 smallest local governments in the region have met informally and on an ad hoc basis for many years, to provide unique “small community” perspectives and inputs to regional policies and plans being considered by the Mayors’ Council. The caucus will meet as needed, likely 2-4 times per year, and will consider how proposed policies and plans may impact smaller local governments differently than other local governments in the region.”

Joint Governance Task Force — “This joint task force, comprising 3 members from each of the Board and Mayors’ Council, will develop recommendations for both bodies and the province to finalize and operationalize the governance changes proposed by Minister Heyman in a process to launch this month.”

The chair and vice-chair of the Mayors’ Council proposed a list of committee appointments. The Mayors’ Council approved the suggested appointments. The Council appointed me as vice-chair of the Finance Committee. You can read the complete list of appointments and more information about each committee’s work plan in the latest Mayors’ Council agenda.