The district of Barriere (DOB) is hitting the ground running with correspondence to key ministries as follow up to critical issues discussed with the province during the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM).
Mayor Ward Stamer and council approved three formal letters during the regular district meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 3 to be drafted by Thurs. Oct. 4 and mailed out Friday, Oct. 5.
One was a letter written to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Rob Fleming regarding commercial vehicle dash cams.
A second letter was written to the Premier David Eby regarding 2023 wildfire response and the announcement of a provincial task force.
A third letter was written to Suncor Energy Inc. regarding rural B.C. gas price inequality.
In an interview with Black Press, Mayor Stamer prefaced the conversation about these letters with a comment about another major power outage in the region that took place on Oct. 4 for many hours, one of many the district of Barriere, Simpcw First Nation and Little Fort have experienced for months causing frustration to rise among residents and concerned business owners in the valley.
“Even after we met with B.C. Hydro at UBCM we are still experiencing unannounced and potentially damaging power outages in our municipality and surrounding area,” said Stamer. “These surges could be responsible for infrastructure losses to not only the district equipment and infrastructure but to individual residents and businesses resulting in insurmountable losses when businesses must close because of lack of power and no timeline when it will be restored.”
Stamer turned to the topic of mandatory dash cams for commercial vehicles, and the resolution submitted by the DOB during the recent 2023 conventions of the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) and UBCM where the resolution was unanimously endorsed during both gatherings.
In the formal letter to Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) the district points out the advantages of dash cam usage.
“The use of dash cams can encourage commercial truck driver accountability in adhering to safe driving practices and can be affordable insurance in providing undeniable evidence for the almost inevitable near misses that professional drivers contend with in doing their job.”
Since the resolution was unanimously endorsed, the district is asking for a government review on the feasibility of requiring all commercial trucks registered in B.C. to have dashcams installed and in operation while driving within the province as a ‘step toward positive progression of improving our highway safety.’
The letter from the DOB expresses thanks for the planned LED chevron installation along the Highway 5 stretch at ‘Purcha’s Corner’ and the Exlou cuts while suggesting a winter season speed reduction in the fish Trap area of a maximum of 80 km/hr. due to the winding, often slick area flanked between a rock face on one side and a drop down to the railway and river below, which has been the scene of more than one and sometimes fatal incidents, especially during winter driving conditions.
A letter to Premier Eby from the District of Barriere addresses the recent request from Mayor Stamer for a third party review of the 2023 wildfire response that he wrote directly to the premier on August 28.
“This request has been echoed by the majority of British Columians and their respective elected representatives and the importance of this was communicated by those in attendance at this year’s UBCM convention.”
The mayor goes on to express his disappointment upon hearing the announcement from the premier of a special task force assigned instead that will not include any elected officials or those with direct ties to the forest industry.
“While the task force establishment is a step in the right direction, it’s effectiveness will ultimately be limited unless elected officials, licensee representatives, MLA’s or those from the opposition are given a seat at the table.”
Stamer does say he is happy to hear of the appointment of Thompson Nicola Regional District’s CAO, Scott Hildabrand and also the representation of area First Nations, but he feels the exclusion of those who are elected by the public as well as those who have valuable wildfire suppression experience will be counterproductive and limit the effectiveness of the task force.
In the letter addressed to Suncor Energy Inc., Imperial Oil, and Chevron Canada and approved by the district council, Mayor Stamer states that “rural B.C. gets hit the hardest when it comes to gas prices” saying at the time of writing the letter the gas price in Kamloops is on average, 168.9/L and in the community of Barriere, 64 km north of Kamloops, with a population of 1,800 (which can be closer to 3,400 if including the surrounding rural area using Barriere resources) with three gas stations and a current price in Barriere as of Oct. 5, 2023 of 178.9/L.
Stamer told Black Press he did not want to see businesses in Barriere, especially local gas station owners, continue to take this economic hit when residents take their business out of town and not only shop for groceries, and other items or services, but fill up out of town. The correspondence is a request to have a direct discussion with these oil industry representatives as soon as possible as to why rural areas like Barriere are being hit so hard by these increased fuel costs.
“Winter is on the way, our citizens deserve answers and action on these important issues and we are working hard as their representatives to find solutions with our North Thompson Valley partners, for the good of everyone along this corridor,” said Stamer.
