That saying from the movie Field of Dreams ... ‘build it and he will come’... doesn’t seem to work for council as not one person showed to give public input to the municipal goals and objectives meeting. I just want people to remember that during the up coming year if they have a beef with council.
Regardless of public participation, it is great to see the idea of partnership and cooperation between the Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) and the Village of Burns Lake be suggested in the goals and objectives for the village’s 2013 plan.
It brought into question the idea of making this a municipal goal ... I think that sometimes council has to step out of the chambers and take a look at the bigger picture.
Whether it be a council goal or a RDBN goal, if they work together to combine their forces, so much more could be achieved.
Both local and regional governments should always be working together for the benefit of the people they are elected to serve.
While there is set boundaries between the RDBN and the village for taxation, both local governments, while independent of each other, are really still interrelated through the people that they represent.
This is the same for all spheres of government.
The RDBN and the village are tasked with providing effective, transparent, accountable and coherent government for the area and cooperating with one another fosters friendly relations between them.
It also requires consulting one another on matters of common interest, as well as coordinating certain actions and legislation with one another.
I think both governments should meet with each other on a regular basis.
The village has started having scheduled joint council meetings with the Burns Lake Band and Lake Babine Nation, so why not meet with the RDBN too?
The benefits of municipal and regional government collaboration not only includes the potential for improved cost effectiveness, but also allows a combined force to get project approvals and funding, as well as ensuring increased accountability and communication.
Political boundaries are fixed, yet functional or service boundaries are not.
As is the case with the Tom Forsyth Memorial Arena. It is located in, and operated by the Village of Burns Lake, but is open to all resident of the Lakes District.
Intergovernmental collaboration creates a strong local government system, so why not include the RDBN in the village’s goals and objectives?
The local governments are joining forces to hire an economic development officer, perhaps that relationship can be taken further to other projects too.