Barriere mayor Ward Stamer is feeling hopeful following the week-long Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) convention recently held in Vancouver.
The annual event gives local governments in B.C. the opportunity to come together, share their experiences and meet with provincial ministries as they plan for local improvements and projects, while learning how similar plans have been implemented elsewhere. UBCM is known as the voice for local government in B.C., and this year’s theme was “Balancing Act”.
In a recent interview with Black Press, Stamer said that “UBCM went really well. It was very positive, and we had some great meetings while there. We had a good meeting with Anne Kang, Minister of Municipal Affairs, about the joint housing initiative application with Simpcw in Barriere on the piece of Crown land behind the local seniors’ centre. We had a good conversation with her about that.”
Stamer also mentioned a productive conversation with Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming about several highway improvements done or in progress, such as the possibility of additional lights in Louis Creek along the highway, more signage, rumble stripping, widening out some key corners along the highway, addressing winter preparation like sanding and plowing before the snow flies, increased enforcement along Highway 5 and mandatory dash cams in commercial vehicles.
“Initially the only concern from government was privacy and that is why we respectfully stressed ‘forward only’ dash cams. Our resolution was passed unanimously regarding mandatory dash cams. We talked to both Minister Fleming and Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth a couple of days before the resolution was put forward and it didn’t sound like there would be too many hiccups. We will be sending out a letter to remind the ministry that all the municipalities and regional districts in B.C. are supporting the resolution, so we will be asking the government where they are in their official response and timeline.”
Stamer said that although the district hasn’t heard back officially from Premier Eby on a third-party review of the wildfires in the Interior this summer, he was able to address the subject during a group meeting with the premier in which he shared his strong opinion on the subject.
“I don’t believe that the task force would be as effective as a third-party review. The premier responded about the reasoning behind the idea of a task force being to expedite the process; if there was anything they needed to get to the bottom of they could, and if I feel that it is not independent in scope, I would be welcome to contact him directly at any time. So he and I will be talking again soon.”
The partnership with Simpcw First Nation and the Highway 5 mayors from Barriere, Clearwater, Valemount and McBride is working towards signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in November, and all are in agreement that there is strength in numbers when addressing vital issues like highway safety, housing, and infrastructure. They approached the issue of improved power capacity in the valley with BC Hydro, and spoke with Rogers Communications about the possibility of adding cell towers along the Trans Mountain pipeline project to improve cell and internet service to valley residents.
Since there hasn’t been any response from Trans Mountain regarding this proposal, the District of Barriere will be sending out a letter. “We haven’t heard anything back about this recently, so we will try to find out if this is still going ahead officially.” He added the new cell towers would add capacity as well as offering more competitive pricing for customers.
During the next council meeting, the mayor will be asking for a letter to be sent to major oil companies regarding why fuel prices are so high in Barriere. “Before, during and after COVID they’ve been consistently higher than Kamloops, but not any longer. Now it’s more like nine or 10 cents higher. Something isn’t adding up. We will be informing local gas station owners of the inquiry letter going out, but I’ve been told the pricing is out of the station owners’ control. We certainly don’t want residents going out of town to Kamloops to buy their gas because it’s so much cheaper there than locally.”
Stamer is looking forward to continuing to work closely with Simpcw First Nation and the other partnering districts in the valley as they move toward signing this historic MOU in November.
“We talked about our joint housing application with Simpcw First Nation for the Crown land in Barriere, and how this type of housing would address the needs of elders, low and middle income families, and seniors. Minister Kang seemed really impressed when Chief Lampreau mentioned our joint application along with the MOU, as if to say these communities are ‘walking the walk’ together,” said the mayor.
“We are all working together for the good of the valley.”
