Langley City Council's Provincial Calls to Action Supported by Other Lower Mainland Local Governments

Langley City is part of the Lower Mainland Local Government Association (LMLGA), which covers the Fraser Canyon from Boston Bar, the Fraser Valley, Metro Vancouver, and the Sea to Sky corridor to around Pemberton. Local governments in this area represent about two-thirds of BC's population. The LMLGA is one of five local area associations in BC.

Building Inclusive Spaces in Langley City Presentation at this year's LMLGA Conference. Select the image to enlarge.

Besides providing education and advocacy, the LMLGA annual conference is where locally elected representatives debate resolutions from various local governments in the area and, if supported by the majority of those at the resolutions session, are submitted to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) for debate at their annual conference for all local governments in our province. The resolutions supported by the UBCM membership are submitted to the province as "the will of local governments" in BC. The UBCM advocates for these resolutions to the province in the hopes that the provincial government will take action on some of the resolution recommendations. The province always responds to supported resolutions, even if the response is that they will take no action.

Langley City Council just returned from last week's LMLGA annual conference. At the conference, attendees debated 60 resolutions, of which four were submitted by Langley City Council. I'm happy to report that the LMLGA membership supported all four Langley City Council resolutions and that the LMLGA will forward these resolutions to the UBCM for debate in the fall annual conference.

The first resolution from Langley City Council calls on the provincial government to reimburse local governments when firefighters respond to medical calls due to the chronic underfunding of the Ambulance Service in BC.

The second resolution calls on the provincial government to expand its "HEART & HEARTH" homelessness reduction programs from "priority" communities to all communities in BC. These programs include building new permanent and temporary shelter spaces and providing required associated program support for people experiencing homelessness.

The third resolution asks the province to take action on its Courthouse Capital Asset Management Plan, including building new courthouses in areas with limited court access, such as Langley, which has no courthouses, and expanding existing courthouses.

Langley City Council's final supported resolution asks the provincial government to provide more financial and staff support to help local governments implement the province's new housing legislation, regulations, and policies.

For more information, you can download the complete resolution package from the LMLGA website.