[0:15] being conducted electronically due to
[0:17] the ongoing technical upgrades in our
[0:18] boardroom we kindly ask for your
[0:20] patience as we navigate this format
[0:22] should it be necessary to continue in
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[0:25] provide updates through our usual
[0:27] communication channels and it will be
[0:28] noted on the agenda cover page PES
[0:30] please note this meeting is being live
[0:32] streamed now and and
[0:34] recorded we request directors please
[0:36] keep your cameras on and your
[0:38] microphone's muted I'm speaking if you
[0:41] wish to speak please use the raiseed
[0:42] hand function on your screen's action
[0:44] bar once acknowledge by the chair please
[0:46] turn on your microphone for other
[0:48] participants please keep your microphone
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[0:54] please turn on your microphone and
[0:55] camera for public input period and
[0:57] question period we have asked citizens
[0:59] to have Reg reged with legislative
[1:01] Services by noon yesterday we have a
[1:03] total of two registered for public in
[1:05] Period and nobody for question period at
[1:07] this meeting citizens will be invited to
[1:10] speak when called called upon by the
[1:12] chair as always we will be following
[1:14] parliamentary procedure for this meeting
[1:16] and we appreciate your patience and
[1:18] understanding as we navigate through
[1:19] this meeting
[1:21] event chair we are live streaming and
[1:24] ready to go all right thanks for that so
[1:26] like to start by recognizing that the
[1:28] cbrd is on the the unseated territories
[1:31] the keton Malad subad alal penel Samus
[1:36] Laxon packin didat and patat Nations
[1:40] whose people have walked gently here for
[1:42] thousands of years so the core being
[1:44] present I'd like to call this uh
[1:46] committee the home meeting to order our
[1:49] first
[1:50] item of business is approval of the
[1:52] agenda can I get a motion to approve the
[1:56] agenda moved by uh director Duncan we
[2:00] have a seconder it's live J already
[2:03] checked director nichon assistant
[2:07] that's I think 7 doesn't have mute on
[2:09] right
[2:12] now all right I'll call call the
[2:14] question all in
[2:15] favor and oppos none oppos motion
[2:18] carries we'll now move on to adoption of
[2:20] the minutes so we have before us the
[2:22] committee the whole minutes of December
[2:24] 11th 2024 would someone like to move
[2:27] that these be
[2:28] adopted move by director
[2:30] Abbott seconded by director Justice call
[2:35] the question all in
[2:36] favor and opposed un opposed motion
[2:39] carries we'll now move on to the
[2:41] committee the whole minutes from
[2:42] December 12th 2024 would someone like to
[2:45] move that these be adopted sherff may I
[2:47] intera for a moment please yeah thank
[2:50] you we have noted that the minutes need
[2:53] to be amended per item
[2:56] 16 that function 100 reduce contingency
[2:59] G else to reduce requisition and that
[3:03] the it says 35,000 that is a should say
[3:07] 85,000 for the consultant projects be
[3:09] taken from the operating reserves and
[3:12] that function 100 General government
[3:14] being approved as
[3:15] amended so if the minutes could be
[3:18] approved as amended that'd be greatly
[3:20] appreciated all right can I get a motion
[3:22] to uh adopt the minutes as
[3:25] amended move by director CIO seconded by
[3:28] director McKai any disc discussion all
[3:31] in
[3:31] favor and
[3:33] opposed none opposed motion
[3:37] carries we'll now move on to public
[3:40] input period I'm just going to read the
[3:43] uh Preamble here public input period is
[3:46] to offer the public an opportunity to
[3:48] comment on an agenda item before the
[3:49] board considers the item the public
[3:52] input period procedure policy allows for
[3:54] an allotment of 15 minutes where the
[3:56] speakers welcome to comment on any items
[3:58] on the agenda up to a maximum of three
[4:00] minutes this excludes items that are or
[4:03] have been the subject of a public
[4:05] hearing input from the community is
[4:07] valued and appreciate we request that
[4:09] input is presented in a friendly and
[4:10] respectful manner the cooperation in
[4:13] maintaining a safe respectful and
[4:14] orderly environment is greatly
[4:16] appreciated so I understand we have two
[4:18] members of the public who have signed up
[4:21] to provide input at this time I'll turn
[4:24] to Seth yes um we have John Robertson
[4:27] for agenda item ub1 AV I CC resolutions
[4:31] private managed Forest
[4:33] lands all right Mr Robertson you've got
[4:35] up to three minutes you like to
[4:39] start yeah good morning chair board
[4:41] members uh thank you for the opportunity
[4:43] to speak today my name is John Robertson
[4:46] and I am here on behalf of the shaigan
[4:48] Basin society and wish to speak in
[4:50] support of the resolution for the aicc
[4:53] regarding the private managed Forest
[4:55] lands review of 2019 and the need to act
[4:58] on concerns outlin in the responses to
[5:00] the review particularly those submitted
[5:03] by the
[5:04] cvrd I would like to start by
[5:06] emphasizing the importance of sustaining
[5:08] and restoring ecosystem Services
[5:10] provided by mature forest in the Upland
[5:13] regions of our watersheds these natural
[5:15] systems provide quality water resources
[5:17] at rates and times that benefit the
[5:19] communities that rely on them the short
[5:22] rotation clear-cut civil culture system
[5:24] employed by the owners of private
[5:25] managed Forest lands systematically
[5:27] degrades and removes ecosystem
[5:29] attributes necessary for the healthy
[5:32] hydrologic cycle in our
[5:34] Watershed water quality can be reduced
[5:37] and the timing and delivery of water
[5:39] through the Watershed is
[5:41] disrupted the regulatory controls on
[5:43] private managed Forest lands are
[5:45] delivered by the managed Forest Council
[5:47] an independent provincial agency with no
[5:49] ties or accountability to the
[5:51] communities most affected by the
[5:53] management practices on these lands the
[5:56] regulations that guide their work are
[5:57] diminished and ineffective when when
[5:59] held against the existing regulations
[6:02] governing Forest practices on public
[6:04] lands particularly with respect to
[6:06] harvest
[6:08] rates the problems associated with the
[6:10] private managed Forest Land Act are well
[6:12] documented in the responses to the 2019
[6:15] provincial review as well as in the
[6:16] multitude of resolutions to the Avic and
[6:20] the ubcm that have come before this one
[6:22] you have
[6:23] today the solution lies in the
[6:25] establishment of ecosystem based Water
[6:27] Management plans that apply across the
[6:30] spectrum of land ownership and set
[6:32] standards and goals for private managed
[6:34] Forest lands in alignment with
[6:35] conservation and restoration of a
[6:38] healthy hydrologic
[6:39] cycle the shaigan Basin Society has such
[6:42] a plan for the shaigan Watershed and the
[6:45] work of the kilo Watershed working group
[6:48] is a landmark effort in producing a
[6:50] truly Community generated plan Regional
[6:53] governments must gain access to
[6:55] regulatory oversight of the private
[6:57] managed Forest lands the BC government
[7:00] recognizes the importance of ecosystem
[7:02] based decisions and is pursuing
[7:04] Solutions on public lands but disregard
[7:07] the private managed Forest lands program
[7:09] and its management deficits this places
[7:12] an unfair burden on Vancouver on
[7:14] communities as the private managed
[7:16] Forest land Remains unrestrained by
[7:18] local interests and concerns for
[7:21] Watershed Health uh thank you for this
[7:25] opportunity thank
[7:27] you well now turn to staff when
[7:29] understand there's one more member of
[7:31] the public wanted to provide input yes
[7:34] thank you chair uh Bernard HJ
[7:37] agenda item uv1 aicc
[7:41] resolution private managed Forest
[7:44] lens Mr
[7:52] JY sorry CH I thought I he's on mute so
[7:56] one moment
[8:00] ah good morning chair and
[8:04] directors I'm also a member of the
[8:06] shanigan Bas Society but I'm speaking
[8:08] this morning as a private citizen so I'm
[8:11] in full support of the Avic resolution
[8:13] number two I've always maintain that
[8:16] Force may be private but excuse me the
[8:19] Watershed is public and the public
[8:21] should have a say in how the force are
[8:23] managed I would also urge the cvrd to
[8:27] push for changes in the private managed
[8:29] Force Land Act to better protect the
[8:31] health of the forest and water
[8:34] therein and to have also to have better
[8:37] Forest practices on crownlands I'll I
[8:40] point out again that the Canada's Forest
[8:43] used to be net carbon sinks and
[8:45] according to Natural Resources Canada
[8:47] which is an unbiased agency I would
[8:50] think the last time Canada's managed
[8:53] Force sequestered more carbon than they
[8:55] emitted was in
[8:56] 2002 and this is due mainly to wildfires
[9:00] since naturally regenerate regenerated
[9:03] Force have been replaced with
[9:05] monoculture fire prone resin containing
[9:08] coniferous trees while eliminating
[9:10] deciduous trees and shrubs that are fire
[9:13] resistant such monoc monoculture Force
[9:16] also have a large negative impact on
[9:19] biodiversity in part by removing food
[9:21] sources that deciduous trees and shrubs
[9:23] provide so I would also urge the cvrd to
[9:27] urge The Province to change all Leg
[9:30] legislation that governs Forest Harvest
[9:32] to have better protection of the health
[9:34] of our forest and thus of our water
[9:37] sheds thank you for your
[9:39] attention great thank you so I believe
[9:43] that uh concludes public input we can
[9:47] now move on to the next item of the
[9:49] agenda which is
[9:50] delegations I'd like to invite uh Julia
[9:53] Fischer and Jesse McGee Chalmers from
[9:56] Vancouver Island University to present
[9:58] on the the one-year performance report
[10:01] on the Agriculture and food program
[10:03] activities for
[10:08] 2024 great thank you chair and directors
[10:11] um I will share a PowerPoint to give a
[10:14] summary of our activities for 2024
[10:55] okay is it coming up just the
[10:57] presentation right yeah we can see it
[11:01] okay great I've ran out of screens to
[11:04] see it um okay um so we're um glad to be
[11:09] here today to speak about what we've
[11:10] been up to over the last year um my name
[11:13] is Julia Fischer I'm the lead program
[11:15] coordinator for agriculture and Food
[11:17] Systems at
[11:19] viu your notes are up there
[11:22] too oh it's okay I don't have any notes
[11:25] but that's not what I
[11:27] want thanks
[11:30] see if I
[11:42] can she's just trying to she may want to
[11:45] go to presenter mode yeah maybe
[11:47] presenter
[11:52] mode
[11:58] yeah
[12:04] Point sorry about
[12:25] this okay how's that do you still have
[12:27] the notes
[12:33] it's fine to just go ahead I think it's
[12:35] fine to go ahead yeah okay great sorry
[12:37] about that um so uh I just wanted to say
[12:41] Jesse's here also He's our campus
[12:44] administrator um and we're grateful for
[12:46] the support from the cvrd for the 2024
[12:49] year um so I'll give you a uh an
[12:51] overview of our activities uh we've been
[12:54] working on the micro credentials um the
[12:56] workshops at Providence farm that we met
[12:59] mentioned last year uh we've done a lot
[13:01] of Engagement work and I'd like to share
[13:04] uh what we'll be doing next uh so one of
[13:09] the uh projects that we were working on
[13:11] was to uh complete the development of
[13:15] some micr credentials and deliver them
[13:18] to the community so the first micr
[13:20] credential um that we delivered uh in
[13:23] 2024 was on soils uh we had 26 students
[13:27] and it ran uh from September to October
[13:31] and there were a total of nine classes
[13:34] um we had two field days and they were
[13:36] at the Sandown Center for regenerative
[13:38] agriculture and tatlo Road farm and the
[13:41] Nimo food share and so we have a lot of
[13:45] local experts so um the students were
[13:48] thrilled with these um Field Days even
[13:52] though it was during an atmospheric
[13:53] River um and uh you can see one of the
[13:57] students wrote To Me uh in an email
[14:00] after the course and said it was
[14:01] fabulous I cannot share all the ways you
[14:03] will change the way I farm but I can say
[14:05] that the farm will be better for having
[14:07] for me having had this opportunity so it
[14:10] was a really positive um pilot of this
[14:13] course uh we've completed the review and
[14:15] the edits of the
[14:19] pilot the next course was on agory
[14:23] Colley um so we had 15 students complete
[14:26] this course and it ran through November
[14:28] to December
[14:29] um we also had the same format we had uh
[14:33] nine classes two of them were Field Days
[14:36] um and we spent time at David Adams Farm
[14:39] in Glenora Lockwood Farms the Estuary in
[14:42] couch of bay Ken Elliot's restoration
[14:44] nursery and the Eco Village in shanigan
[14:47] Lake um so again there was very positive
[14:50] feedback for the field days uh where
[14:52] they could um bring the online learning
[14:55] uh and and see some real life
[14:57] applications um um we also had uh a
[15:00] guest Thomas mson join us um and I
[15:03] forgot to mention the soils course the
[15:05] development was funded by The Innovation
[15:07] Grant from CWC uh and the agroecology
[15:10] course development was funded by the
[15:12] Ministry of postsecondary Education and
[15:14] future
[15:16] skills hey Miss fiser for your
[15:18] presentation did you want to move
[15:19] through the slides we're still on the
[15:21] the first slide right
[15:23] now oh no I am so sorry thank you for
[15:26] letting
[15:27] me that
[15:29] frustrating okay I know I this in as
[15:33] well I'm not sure if someone is able to
[15:35] help with that um I haven't used this
[15:37] WebEx meeting platform um so
[16:00] Julia what so are you wear using um like
[16:03] Google Slides or what's the
[16:06] software um it's it's a PowerPoint
[16:13] presentation I think it's FB try pushing
[16:15] F5 see what
[16:20] happens is that
[16:22] working no I thought it was I could be
[16:25] wrong for presenter mode let me go or
[16:28] View
[16:29] a few slideshow or there slideshow at
[16:31] the top yeah a few at the top and
[16:35] slideshow yeah like I don't think it's
[16:36] to do with your sharing you're sharing
[16:39] correctly just your
[16:42] VI there ah then use the space bar and
[16:46] push your space bar yeah there you go
[16:48] yeah you seeing the other slides yeah we
[16:51] are yeah okay okay thanks for letting me
[16:55] know I'm glad I didn't get through it
[16:57] all um before so here's a photo um of
[17:00] the soils course where everyone's in the
[17:02] atmospheric River um then here um we're
[17:06] with Ken Elliot uh and um Brandy at the
[17:10] Eco Village um and so I'll move on to
[17:15] the the third micro credential that we
[17:17] were working on the development on last
[17:20] year and that was developed in
[17:21] collaboration with Canadian organic
[17:23] Growers and Seed change um and there was
[17:26] also funding that came from CBC for the
[17:28] develop Vel M of this course um this is
[17:31] Mary Brittain she runs an heirloom seed
[17:33] company and she is an our instructor and
[17:36] was the primary writer for this course
[17:38] um and it's delivered online completely
[17:42] um and Canadian organic Growers will
[17:44] also be piloting the course in February
[17:47] um so all of these courses we are able
[17:49] to secure funding from the um uh BC
[17:54] future skills grant for the majority of
[17:57] the students um that really helps um to
[18:01] uh bring awareness to this course and
[18:03] enable students to to take the
[18:07] courses uh last year we ran seven
[18:10] workshops in the spring uh at Providence
[18:13] Farm um here's Christen M Cali of saf
[18:16] flower nurseries um teaching about
[18:18] Meadow making uh we had a large number
[18:20] of other we had a yeah we had seven
[18:23] other courses so we had a um workshop on
[18:26] Native pollinators beekeeping Meadow
[18:28] making
[18:29] backyard chicken Sarah scaping
[18:31] Irrigation Design and basic maintenance
[18:34] and operation of farm equipment um
[18:37] so that's something that we are working
[18:40] on now and I'll speak about in a few
[18:42] minutes um we also engaged with a number
[18:45] of community
[18:47] organizations um to kind of strengthen
[18:50] our um the awareness of our offerings
[18:54] and also to to receive feedback um to
[18:57] have one-on-one conversation
[18:59] and
[19:00] um uh gain some insight into how we can
[19:05] partner whether that's field days or um
[19:08] attend events um so there's a mix of all
[19:11] of those interactions with this list of
[19:14] um Community
[19:17] organizations and then uh what's next um
[19:21] so right now we have submitted an
[19:23] application um for funding to develop a
[19:26] livestock micr credential um and that's
[19:29] been submitted with the small scale meat
[19:31] producers Association so we're waiting
[19:34] um we've sent in an expression of
[19:36] interest at this point and we're hoping
[19:38] to be invited for an um an application
[19:42] and
[19:43] um right now I'm working on the spring
[19:47] workshops at Providence farm and other
[19:49] locations um so the first workpop will
[19:52] be pruning uh and the end of February we
[19:56] have a SM fire smart Workshop in the
[19:58] work
[19:59] basic maintenance and operation of farm
[20:01] equipment again a beekeeping course and
[20:03] a few other
[20:05] workshops um North Island College who
[20:08] we've partnered with on a number of um
[20:11] programs and offerings including the the
[20:12] micr credential Suite um they have
[20:15] developed a program or a course called
[20:18] Community Food Systems and so we're
[20:20] going to look into seeing if that's
[20:21] something that we can incorporate into
[20:23] our suite um we have a partnership with
[20:26] North Island College uh to to deliver
[20:29] the craft brewing program so helping
[20:31] with um practicum placements for that um
[20:35] program we um plan to continue our
[20:38] involvement with cwc's agriculture
[20:40] special interest group um and we hope to
[20:45] um attend or we plan to attend a number
[20:47] of Agriculture events and focus groups
[20:50] um in this year and continue to seek
[20:53] funding um to support students to take
[20:56] these courses um
[20:59] and we'll look again to see if we can
[21:00] secure funding for the BC future skills
[21:04] Grant uh when that becomes available um
[21:09] so that's a summary of the of the
[21:12] activities from last year um and I
[21:15] welcome any questions and I thank you
[21:17] for being patient and helping
[21:20] me thanks M for the presentation um yeah
[21:23] I'm going I'm going to open up to the uh
[21:25] rest of the committee for questions but
[21:27] I what I will say is it's it's great to
[21:28] see viu taken a much uh more active role
[21:31] in supporting local farmers or or people
[21:34] interested in getting involved in the
[21:36] the agricultural sector to improve our
[21:38] to ensure they have the skills to
[21:39] improve our local food production and
[21:40] and food security so it's a great work
[21:42] and glad that we're we've partnered with
[21:45] uh you and viu to advance these
[21:47] important initiatives I'm going to turn
[21:49] to the committee I've got director
[21:51] Wilson director martman and then
[21:53] director
[21:57] Abbot thank you and and thank you for
[21:59] that presentation um I support the
[22:02] farming Community 100% because of the
[22:05] work that you do here um one of the
[22:07] things I'm most interested in is the the
[22:09] work that you do as therapy um at
[22:13] Providence Farm uh that's mentioned on
[22:15] on the website with the writing society
[22:18] and those with some I I don't know what
[22:21] the correct term is disability um that
[22:24] kind of thing can you elaborate more on
[22:26] the on the work that you do with the
[22:28] with with that kind of thing
[22:30] please sure um so we actually aren't
[22:33] involved in their therapeutic activities
[22:36] our programs are run um after hours and
[22:39] on the weekends um so we're um yeah it's
[22:44] it's separate our activities um
[22:47] and
[22:50] um there has been in the past a
[22:52] relationship with horiculture therapy
[22:54] and I believe there's some conversations
[22:56] around getting that program revitalized
[22:59] um but that's um currently not being
[23:04] offered right Mr Cher If I could have a
[23:06] followup please and so the the
[23:08] therapeutic work and the disabilities is
[23:10] uh is is ongoing you have a a a good
[23:13] number
[23:15] there um um I'm not sure of their
[23:18] numbers that's Providence Farms um
[23:20] day-to-day activities so that's um
[23:22] separate so they um have um they're
[23:26] happy to have us bring in the public in
[23:28] the after hours and on the weekends good
[23:31] thank you very
[23:32] much yeah you're
[23:34] welcome d marman uh thank you chair and
[23:38] hi Julia thank you for your presentation
[23:40] love to hear what you've accomplished
[23:42] and and look forward to more in
[23:44] 20125 uh my question is more around um
[23:48] how are you finding the funding is is to
[23:51] be sustainable uh maybe you can speak a
[23:54] little bit about that and my second
[23:55] question will be about more about
[23:57] Communications
[24:03] okay good question nice to see you um so
[24:07] we're working to make sure this is a fun
[24:09] a sustainable program um we want to be
[24:11] able to offer this in the long run and
[24:13] continue to develop um programs that are
[24:16] affordable and
[24:19] um but that also uh keep the program
[24:22] going so um there's a balance of of um
[24:26] looking for grant opportunities
[24:28] the future skills Grant is an amazing uh
[24:31] program the the majority of the students
[24:33] had their tuition completely covered um
[24:36] and so that um helps students to take
[24:40] the course but then they can also learn
[24:41] about the other offerings uh while
[24:44] they're taking that course which kind of
[24:46] um brings some more support to the the
[24:47] short workshops and longer programs so
[24:51] we'll continue to look for um grant
[24:54] opportunities and we have our
[24:55] partnership with cwbc and North Island
[24:57] College in particular
[24:59] which is also a member um and so um we
[25:02] work together on sharing those
[25:04] opportunities um Jessica I'm not sure if
[25:06] you have anything you wanted to add
[25:07] about the
[25:10] sustainability yeah maybe I can just
[25:12] speak to uh from an Institutional
[25:15] perspective um as most people are aware
[25:19] most postsecondary institutions are
[25:21] experiencing Financial challenges these
[25:23] days uh and viu is is no different we're
[25:26] part of that group and when it's done is
[25:28] it's forced us to look at our program
[25:30] mix and what we're offering and and I
[25:32] know in my conversations with senior
[25:34] leadership and what the long-term vision
[25:36] of eiu Agriculture and and food security
[25:39] food sustainability um is part of what
[25:42] we want to include in our uh in our
[25:44] program mix moving forward um and
[25:47] there's lots of different forms that
[25:49] that can can look like uh whether that
[25:52] is US building out further um
[25:55] agriculture programming opportunities
[25:58] but also um kind of embedding it as as
[26:01] cross cutting themes in a lot of our
[26:02] other programs um so that it's not
[26:05] necessarily Standalone but it's
[26:06] connecting to with uh a lot of our diff
[26:09] students at different programs at viu so
[26:12] um like I say it's uh currently you know
[26:15] most of the programming that we're
[26:16] offering is operates in a cost recovery
[26:19] activity uh but we are looking at
[26:21] expanding the program mix to
[26:24] uh hopefully get uh some more syst
[26:28] stainable um provincially funded
[26:31] programs running in the
[26:34] future great followup director Marvin
[26:37] thank you chair and and I think that
[26:39] thank you for that answer I I guess you
[26:42] know the importance of this um to me
[26:44] can't be understated and the concept of
[26:47] micr credential I think fits well with
[26:49] Farmers time and abilities to you know
[26:52] to um focus on something um for a short
[26:56] term but get long-term gain out of the
[26:58] knowledge the I guess the other part of
[27:01] my question is around communication and
[27:03] the and can you speak a little bit about
[27:06] uh maybe your growing Rolodex if that's
[27:08] not a archaic term about H how much
[27:12] you're able to reach out and um in terms
[27:14] of groups and individual people or do
[27:18] you have a way that people can get
[27:21] informed or reach out to you I'm just
[27:24] looking to share that information
[27:29] great question um so we have a uh
[27:32] newsletter that's on our website and
[27:34] that we have been directing people to
[27:36] sign up for um we have around um 200
[27:40] people on that newsletter and we um have
[27:43] a couple other organizations that have
[27:45] been um sharing information about the
[27:48] micro credentials and other offerings um
[27:50] such as the couch and Agricultural
[27:52] Society and um I know the young agrarian
[27:55] systems some sharing as well um and we
[27:57] do a back and forth with those groups to
[28:00] kind of promote them um
[28:04] so yeah we continue to do that with our
[28:08] newsletter um the events we I'll be at a
[28:12] um Booth a booth at the islands
[28:14] agriculture show um and a couple of CD
[28:17] Saturdays so that's another way to um
[28:20] continue to reach out and grow that um
[28:23] interest list um I think there's um I
[28:28] I have the Good Fortune of being a
[28:30] lifelong resident at the couch and
[28:32] Valley so I and growing up in the
[28:34] farming community so I do have a lot of
[28:36] uh Connections in my personal life um
[28:39] that has helped me in this role to to
[28:42] share the information so I think um yeah
[28:46] we're just very lucky that there's a lot
[28:47] of people who are seeing the need for
[28:49] these um courses and programs so um
[28:52] people are also coming to us as
[28:54] well thanks Jaren if I may um I I I
[28:58] think what I guess I'm getting to is
[28:59] that you can leverage this group
[29:01] probably um because there's a great
[29:04] source of contacts through each
[29:05] individual director um that may be able
[29:08] to also Point people to your
[29:14] direction thank you chair and thank you
[29:17] Miss fiser Julia if I may um a wonderful
[29:20] summary of what you've done and exciting
[29:22] news about what's in store coming
[29:23] forward especially the craft brewing
[29:25] which I'm sure is near and dear to the
[29:28] Fisher family um my question pertains to
[29:33] the program that was offered in the
[29:35] Estuary couch and Bay Estuary are you
[29:37] able to expand a little bit more on what
[29:40] uh what happened and what plans are
[29:42] going to happen in the couch and Bay
[29:43] Estuary re regarding
[29:48] agriculture um so your question is uh
[29:51] what occurred on the field day at uh in
[29:54] the Estuary yes please jul
[29:58] um so we we essentially we needed more
[30:02] time um there but we had um some
[30:06] connection to it through um connecting
[30:08] with h Ken Elliot and he spoke to us at
[30:11] his plant nursery but we made a a stop
[30:15] um at the EST beforehand and we could
[30:18] see the beginnings of the um Nursery
[30:21] that's been established there um and so
[30:24] Thomas mson who is um um a restoration
[30:30] uh expert and he teaches at UIC um he
[30:33] gave some information there um and we
[30:35] hope to have some more the next time we
[30:38] offer this course one of um some of the
[30:41] feedback from the students is that they
[30:42] would love to spend more time there and
[30:44] um so our hope is that we'll be able to
[30:46] have um maybe a full day or a half day
[30:49] especially to learn about the the
[30:51] project going on there thank
[30:55] you thanks
[30:58] all right seeing no other hands raised
[31:00] from the committee members I want to
[31:01] thank uh Miss Fischer and Mr MC Almer
[31:04] for your presentation and if you want to
[31:05] hang tight for a few minutes our next
[31:07] item on the agenda is going to be a
[31:09] staff report on uh releasing the uh the
[31:13] $10,000 uh in support for this project
[31:16] so thanks
[31:22] again all right so we can now move on
[31:25] straight to reports we have before us
[31:27] item R1 report from The Economic
[31:29] Development Division regarding the
[31:30] Vancouver Island University agricultural
[31:32] development program update I will turn
[31:34] to Mr Oren to uh speak to this
[31:38] item good morning chair and directors
[31:40] thank you um as you saw from the
[31:43] presentation uh the purpose of this
[31:45] report is to provide an update on the
[31:48] 2023 to 2025 Vancouver Island University
[31:52] a development program that's being
[31:53] supported by EDC um in 2024 this VD
[31:58] board approved Financial
[32:00] contribution uh for the program over two
[32:03] years subject to certain
[32:04] deliverables these deliverables have now
[32:07] been met as per the report so staff are
[32:10] recommending the release of the 2024
[32:12] contribution of
[32:14] $10,000 I'm here to answer any questions
[32:16] and biu is also present as you see thank
[32:20] you great thank you Mr aen so I'll turn
[32:22] to the committee any questions for staff
[32:24] would we like to jump straight to the uh
[32:25] the recommendation
[32:30] yeah uh director marman I would move the
[32:33] recommendation it's been moved is there
[32:35] second seconded by director Abbott any
[32:37] discussion director
[32:43] mcgonagal just second
[32:45] in all right I'll call the question then
[32:48] all in
[32:49] favor and
[32:51] opposed and oppose motion carries thanks
[32:54] again uh Miss Fischer and Mr uh McGee
[32:57] almers uh GL glad to be working with
[32:58] theu on this important
[33:01] initiative wonderful thanks for having
[33:03] us all right thank you chair thank you
[33:06] board thank you we'll now move on to the
[33:09] next report we have a report from the
[33:11] deputy chief administrative officer
[33:13] regarding the CD strategic plan 2023 to
[33:17] 2026 quarter 4 2024 status report this
[33:21] is provided for
[33:24] information any questions from the uh
[33:27] the committee for
[33:32] staff all right we'll move on then to
[33:34] the next item on our
[33:36] agenda R3 report from the deputy chief
[33:39] administrative officer regarding the
[33:40] seity capital projects quarter 4 2024
[33:44] status report again gain for information
[33:46] any questions for the from the committee
[33:48] for staff director
[33:51] Morrison uh thank you chair I'm I'm just
[33:54] wondering uh I'm sorry I didn't get my
[33:56] hand up for the first one if our Deputy
[33:59] CAO had any uh remarks or thoughts on on
[34:04] the process and and where we're at on on
[34:06] the previous item uh I know it's an
[34:09] information item and I've I've read it
[34:12] and uh I I found it very interesting but
[34:15] uh was just uh thoughts if we wanted to
[34:18] hear any general remarks on on that
[34:20] process and and how it's
[34:23] working Mr
[34:26] postings uh yes thank you uh Mr chair uh
[34:30] so in relation to the quarterly
[34:33] strategic report so this is now our
[34:35] third round of quarterly reports uh I
[34:38] think you know that what I would be able
[34:40] to share and what I was uh always able
[34:42] to uh share with the the board is I
[34:45] think this process is is becoming
[34:47] smoother and smoother from from the
[34:48] staff and organizational perspective we
[34:50] we have a uh system now where staff are
[34:54] providing regular updates into our uh
[34:57] the software that we're using and it
[34:59] allows us to you know have accurate you
[35:02] know information in a timely manner of
[35:04] you know where projects or where
[35:05] initiatives are so uh it as I think I
[35:09] mentioned way back uh you know back in
[35:10] the summer last year this is evolving
[35:12] and and uh but I think at the end of the
[35:14] day one of the benefits of this is we're
[35:16] able to as a staff uh look you know
[35:19] internally and have some celebrations on
[35:20] some of the successes that we've had uh
[35:22] you know and this year when we look at
[35:24] the end of Q uh four there the end of
[35:26] the year uh there certainly has been a
[35:28] lot of accomplishments that uh we want
[35:30] to be able to celebrate uh the the next
[35:33] step is we are scheduling a a meeting
[35:36] with the board or a workshop with the
[35:38] board uh it's scheduled right now in
[35:41] February at time I don't know the exact
[35:42] date in front of me here which would be
[35:44] a check-in that annual check-in for the
[35:46] board to be able to check in on the
[35:48] Strategic plan and make sure that if
[35:50] there are any adjustments or
[35:52] conversations so that Workshop will
[35:54] happen and and and and the fact that we
[35:57] have this quarterly report uh updated
[35:59] with all the information will be very
[36:01] helpful for not only the board but staff
[36:03] to be able to present you know if there
[36:05] is other initiatives that want to be
[36:06] considered or you know some of the
[36:08] current initiatives uh adjusted so yeah
[36:11] to date things have worked really well
[36:13] and I think internally uh the other the
[36:15] other one other point I would mention is
[36:17] uh this will as of today this will be
[36:19] posted online so it's available right
[36:21] away for the for the public to be able
[36:23] to access and see where the various
[36:25] strategic priorities are so uh I I think
[36:28] uh any any sort of process like this
[36:30] does take time but I think it's getting
[36:32] smoother and smoother each uh session
[36:34] taking less less staff time and and
[36:36] becoming more efficient so uh yeah so
[36:38] far so good Dr Morrison a
[36:42] followup uh thank you chair and and I
[36:45] appreciate uh the the opportunities for
[36:48] staff to celebrate uh the the wins and
[36:51] the on tracks and the completed I I
[36:53] think that's great uh I'm I'm thinking
[36:56] the uh the ones that are the behinds and
[37:01] and uh not completed yet is these
[37:05] quarterly reports I think are great
[37:07] opportunities for those adjustments to
[37:10] be made midyear and is there anything
[37:14] that that comes to mind from this report
[37:17] that is I wouldn't say keeping you awake
[37:20] at night but uh that is is a priority
[37:23] that uh you would like to see uh
[37:26] Advanced further than it is now and uh
[37:29] is behind uh behind its scheduled uh uh
[37:32] timeline is anything in particular come
[37:35] to mind
[37:36] yeah um through the chair to the
[37:38] director the so I guess two parts to
[37:41] that one is that uh the the intent of
[37:44] these reports such as be information
[37:46] reports will be allow the board to
[37:48] receive this and and if there certain if
[37:50] there's question was happy to answer if
[37:53] the what we have as staff uh made sure
[37:55] if there are things that are behind or
[37:58] say budgets are not uh sufficient it's
[38:01] it's absolutely critical that comes
[38:03] forward as a staff report so we'll bring
[38:05] that forward so the decisions and
[38:06] directions so uh we will I would suggest
[38:09] we avoid too much changes in these
[38:12] presentations this is the information
[38:14] but I will say that there's a couple
[38:15] that are behind that you will see some
[38:17] staff reports coming fairly soon in the
[38:20] sense of maybe there's some adjusts
[38:21] maybe there's been a uh something uh
[38:24] come up that needs to be needs to be
[38:25] changed so we will continue to do that
[38:28] through the staff report process and
[38:30] this is flagging basically what you're
[38:32] likely going to see in the near future
[38:33] if there is if if there is any um in
[38:36] relation to one that I would say is
[38:37] highlighted you will uh the probably the
[38:40] first section there the reconciliation
[38:43] uh you will be receiving a report in
[38:45] February uh in regarding a number of
[38:48] things related to reconciliation
[38:49] activities as as has been noted we have
[38:51] hired uh our uh First Nations advisor
[38:56] and that uh position started in Jan on
[38:58] January 6 I guess it was and they've
[39:01] already initiated a internal uh advisory
[39:05] uh uh committee uh presented a work plan
[39:08] to the we'll be presenting a work plan
[39:10] to smt this week and then the the next
[39:13] step is once that work plan is has been
[39:15] uh reviewed we'll be bringing that to
[39:16] the board and so that's probably the big
[39:19] priority right now that that we want to
[39:21] get that underway and and we have a lot
[39:23] of uh uh energy and excitement behind
[39:25] that one there so there's there that one
[39:27] will be in February so that's the one
[39:28] that jumps out right now as as that
[39:30] whole section of reconciliation is is uh
[39:33] is our priority uh in the you know
[39:35] immediate future
[39:38] here director
[39:41] estash thanks chair um looks like we ho
[39:45] back to strategic plan and I thought we
[39:46] were on Capital plan is it fine to speak
[39:49] on Capital Plan setatus update right now
[39:52] um let's I'll just turn to the committee
[39:54] ask any other questions on strategic
[39:56] planner can move on to Capital plan
[39:59] now all right seeing seeing No Hands Up
[40:03] director sash will move straight to the
[40:05] capital plan like the Strategic plan no
[40:08] real questions or comments it's great to
[40:10] now to see the updating reports and
[40:12] hearing the other directors on their
[40:14] comments on those type of things apply
[40:16] across to the capital plan um but real
[40:19] quick was uh relevance to our most
[40:21] recent press release on page nine with
[40:24] our regional Parkland acquisition uh
[40:27] great job by staff and all involved of
[40:29] course to get the Paul uh Bald Mountain
[40:31] Park expansion uh I shared that press
[40:34] release all around but the big question
[40:36] I kept getting back was uh can we
[40:38] provide a map so not really a question
[40:40] just a request to staff if they can
[40:42] update the press release somewhere or
[40:44] put it somewhere of an actual map
[40:45] because everybody was asking me they
[40:47] didn't understand where the expansion
[40:49] was so great work by staff and just a
[40:51] quick comment on that and otherwise uh
[40:54] looking at all the capital projects yeah
[40:56] definitely Lots on the go and great to
[40:58] see okay yeah D Mr postings yeah thank
[41:03] you uh um and just to respond to the uh
[41:06] director's uh comment absolutely we we
[41:08] can work on that and get that map uh
[41:10] available so uh yeah that's a great uh a
[41:12] great comment um one thing with the
[41:14] capital if I could just share there's
[41:16] just really only one item is that uh
[41:18] when we last presented the capital the
[41:20] one thing that we talked about is that
[41:22] uh you've got there's two sections
[41:24] within this one section is the completed
[41:26] items because we had not been reporting
[41:27] on Capital uh consistently in the past
[41:30] up until now we'll be providing an
[41:32] accordly update is we have broken out
[41:34] the ones that are completed so those
[41:36] completed items some of those go back to
[41:38] 20189 when they were funded uh some were
[41:41] multi-year projects so that completed
[41:44] just just for the the director's
[41:46] awareness uh uh the or the committee's
[41:48] awareness is that uh we'll show that
[41:51] that'll be posted as completed but in
[41:53] the future uh for 2025 we'll just be
[41:55] posting the ongoing ones uh and the ones
[41:59] that have been completed for 2024 and
[42:01] prior will be uh archived or will be
[42:05] actually just available online so we're
[42:06] just not post we're not going to be
[42:08] showing year quarterly after quarter
[42:10] ones that are two three years old um so
[42:13] just want to share that that's why
[42:14] they're separated out so each year we'll
[42:16] do that where we combine all the
[42:18] completed ones uh and the remaining ones
[42:21] will continue along and as what was
[42:24] approved in 2000 what uh will or is
[42:27] approved in 2025 will then be inserted
[42:30] into that Q2 report there so or q1 sorry
[42:34] thank
[42:36] you Dr
[42:38] Morrison uh thank you chair uh Mr
[42:41] postings I'm just wondering if you uh
[42:44] this is more of a 30,000 foot level
[42:47] question but in relation to the uh
[42:50] difficulties in the sort of Municipal uh
[42:54] cost of living inflation rates that
[42:57] we've been seeing uh extraordinary
[42:59] numbers coming in for rfps and the likes
[43:03] and and I'm just wondering if you're
[43:05] seeing any uh Trend towards a a
[43:08] normalization of of costs and and you
[43:12] know our supply chain issues being uh
[43:15] are being resolved and and is there much
[43:19] in what you've reported on here that you
[43:22] would say might be exposed to uh some of
[43:25] those uh cost overruns that uh you know
[43:27] are experiencing all across the province
[43:30] and the
[43:31] country Mr
[43:34] posings uh yes through the chair to the
[43:37] director uh yeah great question and and
[43:40] I would say the one of the benefits of
[43:41] these now that we have these corly
[43:43] reports we are actually able to have
[43:45] these conversations and start looking
[43:47] ahead at let's just say a project is
[43:49] defined and we are seeing some cost
[43:52] impacts that we're possibly going to be
[43:54] expecting uh so we are having those
[43:57] conversation staff are having this
[43:58] conversation internally about you know
[44:00] possible adjustments to the uh work
[44:03] plans which of course will come back to
[44:05] the to the uh uh board and get direction
[44:09] uh due to the fact that there are some
[44:11] costs that are are certainly uh we're
[44:13] seeing are not within budget uh may not
[44:17] be the best interest for the for for us
[44:19] to proceed forward at this time maybe we
[44:21] need a a break uh in the sense of uh the
[44:24] timing of that but uh so we are having
[44:27] those
[44:28] conversations as of now just because of
[44:30] some of the some of the impacts but I
[44:32] don't think there's any in there right
[44:34] now that that jump out that I I can flag
[44:36] right now but I would say it is a
[44:37] conversation that staff are having and
[44:39] we will uh certainly bring any of those
[44:42] uh impacts of potential calls back to
[44:44] the board for for direction um but not
[44:47] none highlighted right now yeah thank
[44:49] you director Nicholson
[44:58] um thank you Mr postings that's a great
[45:01] report I appreciate them um you
[45:03] mentioned that we're going to have a
[45:04] conversation about strategic priorities
[45:06] in the near future and and I we've
[45:09] talked about in in the past about the
[45:11] absence of or the perhaps the the the
[45:15] need to strengthen our uh focus on
[45:18] agriculture and I know that it needs to
[45:21] be uh done in terms of the budget as
[45:24] well so I'm wondering what the timeline
[45:26] is for that those
[45:31] discussions through the chair to the
[45:33] director uh So the plan is either what
[45:35] we're looking at right now this is just
[45:36] tentative but it's either uh February
[45:38] 5th or 12th we're just looking at the
[45:40] calendar there and we'll work with the
[45:42] chair to determine what that uh what
[45:44] that timeline looks like we have a draft
[45:46] agenda um the CAO uh and myself have
[45:49] created a draft agenda with the with the
[45:51] GMS and we will we will uh bring this
[45:54] Workshop back to or develop this
[45:56] Workshop we have the workshop developed
[45:58] we'll bring to the uh board for
[46:00] consideration of new items so if you
[46:02] recall there's been things such as
[46:03] placed in what we've termed the parking
[46:05] lot so these are items that are not part
[46:06] of the actual strategic plan currently
[46:08] but there's some interest in considering
[46:10] those those items for uh uh the
[46:12] Strategic plan so we will bring that
[46:15] forward we we already have that list of
[46:16] the parking lot items that have been put
[46:18] there which includes agriculture that's
[46:19] that's one that is uh there's a number
[46:21] of aspects of the Agricultural side and
[46:24] then the board will have to make some
[46:25] decisions is is as is there an
[46:27] adjustment to the actual existing
[46:29] strategic plan uh to be able to fit
[46:31] these in or maybe some of the things on
[46:33] the Strategic plan are not that were
[46:35] developed AFCO not a priority at this
[46:37] point in time for the next couple of
[46:39] years and need to be adjusted out so
[46:41] that Workshop will be happening in the
[46:42] next month and we'll check in with the
[46:44] board make sure that the current
[46:46] strategic plan is clear for for staff to
[46:49] then go and uh uh continue that
[46:51] developing that but uh there are parking
[46:53] lot items that have been brought forward
[46:55] uh and those will be discussed and
[47:00] presented followup director
[47:03] Nicholson yeah and so can I be um
[47:06] assured that if we need to to alter the
[47:09] budget we'll have time to do
[47:14] that uh I'm not sure I can answer that
[47:17] right now that's uh a good question I'm
[47:20] not sure that uh we'd have to look at
[47:22] that exactly what that looks like I
[47:24] think how I would I would
[47:27] mentioned that looks like the Daniel may
[47:29] have a comment on
[47:31] that M Miles Wilson hi oh I'm looking at
[47:35] the wrong video uh I just I just wanted
[47:37] to note that um uh because of the
[47:40] timeline in the calendar um you know
[47:43] reminding reminding the directors that
[47:45] you have the Strategic Investments fund
[47:47] which is set aside um and can be used to
[47:50] fund strategic priorities that do come
[47:52] up throughout the year as you already
[47:53] know um but because of the cycle that
[47:55] we're creating with these these updates
[47:57] and reviewing of the Strategic plan the
[47:59] intent is that the Strategic Plan update
[48:03] is informing um the next budget cycle
[48:06] moving forwards so although you have
[48:08] some flexibility in the Strategic
[48:10] Investments fund to activate a project
[48:12] or an initiative that we don't currently
[48:14] have uh funded we're looking at kind of
[48:16] the next cycle and kind of um how we
[48:19] would uh advise you on um revising your
[48:22] your work priorities and the Strategic
[48:24] plan priorities in the in the next cycle
[48:26] but I'll just highlight that there's
[48:28] there's definitely an opportunity there
[48:30] but um anything of significance would
[48:32] have to be looked at in the in the more
[48:38] comprehensively Victor Nicholson
[48:42] follow no just so so when you say the
[48:44] next cycle you mean 20 the budget for
[48:48] 2026 yes uh so just just kind of
[48:51] highlighting that you do have some
[48:52] ability to fund oneoff projects um in
[48:55] different areas that we don't currently
[48:57] have budgeted right but but that if
[48:59] there's anything of significance if you
[49:00] want to explore any significant
[49:02] investment or or a new service type of
[49:04] thing we'll be looking at the next
[49:05] budget and then in the following
[49:12] year all right I'll turn to the
[49:14] committee any further questions with
[49:16] regards to the capital plan projects
[49:20] update we will now move on to the next
[49:22] item on the agenda are four rep reports
[49:25] from Emergency Management division
[49:27] regarding the Regional Emergency
[49:29] Management local Authority agreement CD
[49:32] and member municipalities we do have a
[49:35] three-part recommendation before us but
[49:37] I will turn to the committee to see if
[49:39] you have any questions for
[49:43] staff and if not I'll ask if someone
[49:46] would like to move the recommendation
[49:48] moved by uh director Morrison seconded
[49:51] by director Seagal any discussion call
[49:53] the question all in favor and oppose
[49:57] none opposed the motion carries we'll
[49:59] now move on to Unfinished Business ub1
[50:04] Report from the office of the CEO
[50:06] regarding the 2025 Association of
[50:08] Vancouver Island and Coastal communities
[50:11] resolutions we have a recommendation
[50:13] that that it be recommended to the board
[50:15] that on January 22nd 2024 that the three
[50:18] resolutions provided be submitted to
[50:20] Avic for consideration at the 2025
[50:24] convention so we have three resolutions
[50:26] before us I can certainly read them all
[50:29] out if you like or not any any
[50:33] discussion or would someone like to get
[50:34] these on the
[50:35] floor moved by director mcgonagal
[50:38] seconded by director Nicholson any
[50:42] discussion director
[50:51] Nicholson thank you sorry about that um
[50:54] I am wondering if it's possible to
[50:56] strengthen the one about the private
[50:58] managed Forest land um I am
[51:04] um I think I think having the review is
[51:07] important and I know that the review has
[51:09] heard a lot about the issues that were
[51:13] identified by the um public input folks
[51:16] today and I think they're really
[51:18] important and I'm wondering if that
[51:20] should be emphasized a bit more right
[51:23] now it's just the review and more more a
[51:27] um local government
[51:29] input but I want to be very explicit
[51:32] that we've got um the need to manage our
[51:35] watersheds more ecologically so that we
[51:38] protect our water
[51:40] supply I can respond Mr chair yeah Miss
[51:44] Miles Wilson yeah and so I just just to
[51:47] remind the directors too that um we did
[51:50] uh request a ministers meeting last year
[51:52] at ubcm uh on this topic and we met with
[51:55] um met with the deputy uh and uh we met
[52:00] with actually with staff as well and um
[52:03] there was lukew war kind of commitment
[52:05] and interest but then again that was um
[52:07] at a time where they weren't they
[52:09] weren't in a position to make
[52:10] commitments as um uh um the government
[52:14] was not willing to make any of those
[52:15] commitments but um uh H we're happy to
[52:19] revise and strengthen the resolution
[52:22] itself but I'll just also remind that uh
[52:24] these are to be submitted with back back
[52:26] grounders um and so staff with your
[52:29] direction if there's other additional
[52:31] details you'd like to be submitted in a
[52:32] backgrounder we can actually strengthen
[52:34] the resolution but also just put a
[52:36] little bit more information in in that
[52:37] additional document um and the other
[52:40] thing is um we'll need to identify or
[52:42] the chair will need to kind of appoint
[52:44] someone to speak to each resolution at
[52:46] the convention if it gets accepted so
[52:48] just as a bit of context um on on the
[52:52] process thanks m m I'm going to turn to
[52:55] director mcon a moment but um could sta
[52:57] provide us with a bit of guidance on how
[52:59] best to incorporate that um stronger
[53:02] emphasis that director Nicholson
[53:04] reference would we do this kind of on
[53:06] the fly right now with adding some
[53:08] additional wording or provide staff with
[53:10] some direction maybe make some tweaks
[53:12] before this comes back to the the board
[53:14] this afternoon so that that would be my
[53:17] preference Mr chair is to give a bit of
[53:19] direction and then we can recraft the
[53:20] wording and then put it back on the
[53:22] board this afternoon these have to get
[53:24] submitted by February 6th so we do
[53:26] really need to wrap it up today if
[53:29] possible all right well let's hold that
[53:32] thought for a second I'm going to turn
[53:33] to um director mcgonagal and director
[53:36] Morrison and um and perhaps we can
[53:38] discuss whether we want to provide staff
[53:41] with direction to to strengthen some of
[53:43] the wording so director mcal thank you
[53:45] chair through you I think the
[53:46] opportunity with the backgrounder that
[53:48] Miss Miles Wilson spoke of and by
[53:51] appointing uh a director to speak to
[53:54] that once it hits the floor could be the
[53:56] Avenue for the strengthened language
[53:58] where we had a captive audience of uh
[54:00] fellow elected officials throughout the
[54:03] room that might support us who also have
[54:06] uh considerable concerns within private
[54:09] Forest manage lands within some of their
[54:11] communities so that would be an Avenue
[54:13] that I would I would think might be
[54:15] appropriate instead of trying to uh
[54:18] write on the Fly and bring it back this
[54:20] afternoon just a
[54:23] thought thanks director mcgonagal uh
[54:25] director
[54:29] uh yeah thank you chair and and just you
[54:31] know thinking about the process here and
[54:33] the fact that this will be uh reviewed
[54:36] by ubcm staff and Avic CC staff and and
[54:40] this will be a long uh added to a long
[54:44] list of resolutions that have been
[54:46] submitted and you know hearing and and
[54:49] agreeing with a lot of what director
[54:50] Nicholson is saying is is that we're
[54:53] we're going at the private manag Force
[54:56] lands act with a principal focus of of
[55:01] watershed protection and management and
[55:04] I'm just looking at this and considering
[55:07] is uh should we perhaps be uh splitting
[55:12] this and saying we have a grave concern
[55:16] about our watersheds our aquifers and
[55:19] the general management lack of of uh
[55:22] local uh participation and oversight in
[55:26] that
[55:27] process and also we have uh as a as a
[55:32] separate resolution a uh uh an issue
[55:35] with the private managed Forest lands
[55:36] act and its lack of responsibility
[55:38] around practices and and the like so I I
[55:41] put that out there it I'm reading the
[55:44] resolution like so many others we're
[55:46] going at water through forests and uh
[55:51] this hasn't ever been very well received
[55:54] by the provincial government so uh for
[55:59] information thanks director Morrison
[56:01] I've got director mclinton director
[56:03] stash I'm g go back to director
[56:05] Nicholson thanks chair I just want to
[56:08] support uh director
[56:11] McGonagle's IDE and I would nominate him
[56:14] to be our speaker and if he needs help
[56:16] standing I'll be there right with
[56:21] him thanks director mcgonagal um
[56:24] director estash
[56:27] like director mclinton I was going to
[56:29] support what director mcgonagle said uh
[56:33] um on putting someone on the spot on
[56:36] that and actually I was going to
[56:37] recommend the chair um mostly just for
[56:40] benefit of the cvrd board here um chair
[56:44] Douglas has uh for our Council we've
[56:47] been on six local Mill tours now we've
[56:51] been touring and meeting with the
[56:53] executives at all the P Mills value
[56:56] added Mills Primary Mills new kils the
[57:00] Investments and everything and pmfl does
[57:02] come up in a bit in that discussion I do
[57:05] take um it is important to clarify what
[57:07] our goals are on pmfl like director uh
[57:10] Morrison said are we after water or we
[57:13] after the whole process access Community
[57:16] input and engagement but myself
[57:18] personally from what I've seen and also
[57:21] I've seen um the chair Douglas Corner
[57:24] the previous Minister Ralston and his
[57:26] Deputy Minister several times so has
[57:29] their ear knows the staff so if he was
[57:31] going to speak to it on the floor if
[57:33] he's willing to I'd suggest that maybe
[57:35] uh our chair of committee does that
[57:38] speaking at Avic as he's so well versed
[57:41] on it but I'm open to the whole boards
[57:42] but I just wanted to put him on the spot
[57:45] and explain the work he has been doing
[57:47] and the countless letters on behalf of
[57:48] our municipalities he's wrote about pmfl
[57:51] in the entire forest indes and he's
[57:53] traveled we've actually done tours up in
[57:55] comok in other regions to see Mills and
[57:58] other people dealing with similar pmfl
[58:00] issues not so much related to water more
[58:03] so to
[58:05] economic um issues it creates but I just
[58:07] wanted to speak to that so I think uh
[58:10] I've said my bit and I'll stop talking I
[58:11] just wanted to put there I think it's
[58:13] really important but director Morrison
[58:15] his point was really important is what
[58:17] is our ultimate goal and maybe we be
[58:20] need to be really clear on what we're
[58:22] doing here me It Isn't So Much the water
[58:24] we're doing good work on the water side
[58:26] it's the whole pmfl pmfl in its whole
[58:30] and if we can get any kind of review
[58:32] done and get a community impact and like
[58:34] they're doing on frpa and the community
[58:37] planning workshop and their logging
[58:41] practices where there's Community um I
[58:43] can't even remember the the forest
[58:45] planning part of it all the
[58:48] better great thanks director stashi I
[58:51] appreciate the the vote of confidence I
[58:52] think around our table there's many of
[58:54] us who have different areas expertise
[58:56] around um forestry and the private
[58:59] managed Forest signs program and um I
[59:01] know I know last year ubcm several of us
[59:04] spoke in the the meeting with the
[59:05] minister and all again brought a
[59:06] different perspective I think which made
[59:08] us made us very effective um I'm gonna I
[59:11] know director Nicholson you we're next
[59:13] director martman hasn't spoken yet so
[59:14] I'm going to director martman then then
[59:16] you're next after that director
[59:18] Nicholson thank you chair and I I think
[59:21] there may be a third item that around
[59:22] this that um maybe staff can speak it's
[59:26] around the uh property taxes that are
[59:28] paid by forestry lands and that's sort
[59:31] of been I gather not been addressed you
[59:34] know since the review is not complete is
[59:37] that part of that as well and I have a
[59:40] followup well turn to staff I mean that
[59:43] certainly I think is something we could
[59:45] address in the the background or could
[59:47] be addressed if we do get the province
[59:48] to actually complete the review but I'll
[59:50] turn to Miss Mes Wilson yeah I it has
[59:53] been in background material keep in mind
[59:55] that this issue has been coming up for a
[59:58] decade and I I do feel like we're kind
[1:00:00] of repackaging the same argument over
[1:00:02] and over not to disc the fact that this
[1:00:04] is very important advocacy work and and
[1:00:06] you guys have identified this in in your
[1:00:08] strategic plan as being a major priority
[1:00:10] for advocacy but I would say uh
[1:00:13] absolutely we we would we can work
[1:00:15] something like that into the
[1:00:16] backgrounder um by the nature of
[1:00:18] resolutions they're meant to be very
[1:00:20] short and sweet into the point and so
[1:00:22] not all of our argument or our concerns
[1:00:25] necessarily are make their way just the
[1:00:26] most important uh Focus point is what to
[1:00:29] be in the
[1:00:31] resolution thank yeah yeah thank you and
[1:00:34] I and I think this is where there are so
[1:00:37] many things that fall out of this one
[1:00:40] issue around the review that I I think
[1:00:44] we have to be very strategic and I would
[1:00:45] leave the staff to look at that because
[1:00:48] I I think if you look at all if you put
[1:00:50] all three things down um it it may not
[1:00:54] get tractioned whereas one item May and
[1:00:57] I think the Watershed in aquafer for my
[1:00:59] community is actually absolutely
[1:01:01] Paramount and so I guess I leave it to
[1:01:04] staff to say this is the time to push
[1:01:07] this button right now because it has
[1:01:09] more ability more chance of being
[1:01:11] successful thank
[1:01:13] you okay I'm gonna turn to director
[1:01:16] Nicholson then I'd like to to weigh
[1:01:23] myself uh thank you I sent a suggested
[1:01:27] for
[1:01:28] a modification of wording and I sent it
[1:01:31] to you and Alison
[1:01:33] Boyd and I can read it out if you'd
[1:01:36] like yeah please do s director marman
[1:01:39] can you lower your
[1:01:44] hand so I just suggest that the the last
[1:01:48] uh part be um CH to say therefore be it
[1:01:52] resolved that Avic requests that the
[1:01:54] province of BC and the min Forest reform
[1:01:56] the private managed Forest lines act so
[1:01:58] that it protects the groundwater and
[1:02:00] surface water quantity and quality
[1:02:02] ecologically regulates the Harvest rate
[1:02:05] and ensures that local governments have
[1:02:06] input to Resource harvesting activities
[1:02:08] within the watersheds that support their
[1:02:11] communities and and just to be clear DK
[1:02:13] Nicholson would that be an addition to
[1:02:15] the other therefore be it resolve that
[1:02:17] staff have
[1:02:19] presented no you you if you know in in
[1:02:22] the one that the staff um suggest
[1:02:26] this is a just to replace it it's just
[1:02:28] an edit I've added a couple some words
[1:02:30] around the water quality and
[1:02:34] quantity all right so we have a
[1:02:36] suggestion then to um revise the the
[1:02:40] wording for the the resolution I've
[1:02:42] heard different perspectives around the
[1:02:44] table here um we can ask uh director
[1:02:48] Nicholson to move that get it on the
[1:02:49] floor for debate or I know does anyone
[1:02:51] have any D
[1:02:54] Nicholson uh I can move it if if you'd
[1:02:56] like okay let's get it on the floor so
[1:02:57] it's been moved is there a
[1:03:00] second seconded by director
[1:03:02] deck director
[1:03:05] Morrison uh thank you chair I was just
[1:03:07] wondering if it was appropriate to split
[1:03:09] the uh three resolutions or consider
[1:03:12] this separately yeah that's a that's a
[1:03:14] great idea how about
[1:03:16] um yeah we sever them so
[1:03:20] let's yeah this is the
[1:03:23] um the second
[1:03:26] that we could deal with resolutions one
[1:03:28] and three to get those out of the way
[1:03:29] and then then Circle back to number
[1:03:32] two does that work recognize we've got a
[1:03:35] motion on the floor right now but before
[1:03:36] we move to debating that we'll just kind
[1:03:38] of clean this up so moved okay so we
[1:03:41] moved um resolutions one and three for
[1:03:45] submitting to the a
[1:03:46] aicc moved by director uh Morrison
[1:03:50] seconded by director Abbott any
[1:03:53] discussion I'll call the question on
[1:03:55] resolutions one and three all in
[1:03:57] favor
[1:03:59] opposed uh none opposed we're going to
[1:04:01] go back to resolution two and we have a
[1:04:04] motion on the floor to revise the the
[1:04:06] wording for the therefore be resolved Mr
[1:04:10] chair can I ask a question for clarity
[1:04:13] yeah before so um the STA staff had
[1:04:16] recommended that we um in the res
[1:04:19] resolved section of the resolution that
[1:04:21] we request that the province uh um uh
[1:04:25] complete the currently stalled Phase 2
[1:04:27] pmfl review um at the previous
[1:04:31] convention there was there was not a
[1:04:32] commitment to kind of move forwards with
[1:04:34] that so I just wanted Clarity around the
[1:04:36] revised wording do you want to still um
[1:04:39] note that as a bit of a followup from
[1:04:41] last year or um or remove that
[1:04:45] portion so like I can't speak on behalf
[1:04:48] of the committee my preference would be
[1:04:49] to include that reference to completing
[1:04:51] the review I think it is a nice simple
[1:04:53] message that you spent money you
[1:04:55] apprciated this thing you asked for our
[1:04:57] input the couch and Watershed board
[1:04:59] provided input most of the regional
[1:05:01] districts and municipalities on uh
[1:05:04] Southern Vancouver Island as far as I
[1:05:05] can tell did provide some input and um
[1:05:08] it would be great to see the province
[1:05:09] wrap that up and if they do that wrap
[1:05:11] that up and if they are taking our
[1:05:13] feedback seriously I think that they are
[1:05:15] they would have to address many of the
[1:05:17] the issues raised that doesn't mean we
[1:05:18] can't certain doesn't mean we can't pass
[1:05:20] the um the addition suggested by
[1:05:24] director Nicholson but for perspective I
[1:05:26] I definitely would like to keep the
[1:05:28] reference to completing the program
[1:05:30] review in the the
[1:05:35] resolution so turn to the committee any
[1:05:37] further discussion got a resolution on
[1:05:40] the the floor here director mclinton
[1:05:44] I think I need excuse me just little bit
[1:05:47] of clarity so keeping the review and
[1:05:50] then adding the that's already in the
[1:05:52] existing resolution right
[1:05:55] yeah I think if I could my understanding
[1:05:58] is director Nicholson thought it would
[1:06:00] would replace it but I think we do have
[1:06:02] the option of of adding it instead so
[1:06:04] that we are continuing that reference
[1:06:06] the program
[1:06:10] review I I'll just say this I I just
[1:06:13] share our cao's concerns and I think we
[1:06:16] should be chipping away at small wins
[1:06:19] with the province I mean they're dug in
[1:06:21] on this this is a massive Money Maker
[1:06:23] for them for tax revenue
[1:06:26] I just think this is going to fall flat
[1:06:28] so I just for that reason I I don't
[1:06:32] think I can support it I support it in
[1:06:35] principle I wish if we have the
[1:06:37] decision-making process I would support
[1:06:39] it but I I won't support the resolution
[1:06:41] for just those
[1:06:43] reasons thanks director mclinton
[1:06:45] director Morrison and then director
[1:06:47] martman yeah I'm I'm challenged as well
[1:06:50] because uh I just in in listening I
[1:06:53] don't have it in writing but in
[1:06:54] listening to the resolution put forward
[1:06:56] by director Nicholson again it's we're
[1:06:58] talking completion of the review we're
[1:07:00] talking practices and then there's that
[1:07:04] chunk that's water
[1:07:07] sustainability you know water balance
[1:07:10] which is you know the pro provincial
[1:07:14] Ministry responsible for Forest is going
[1:07:16] to look at that chunk and and
[1:07:17] essentially ignore it if there is a a
[1:07:21] resolution that refers to the ministry
[1:07:24] responsible for watersheds and aquifers
[1:07:27] to work with the the ministry of forests
[1:07:31] to protect watersheds and and and
[1:07:34] aquifers I think that it's more targeted
[1:07:37] it's more specific and uh it it's not
[1:07:40] going to get lost because there's too
[1:07:42] much of an ask in in a in a broad-based
[1:07:48] resolution great thanks director
[1:07:49] Morrison I'll go to director martman
[1:07:51] then director deck sorry I noticed
[1:07:53] director Sorry Miss Miles Wilson your
[1:07:55] hand
[1:07:56] did you have anything to add before I
[1:07:57] move to director
[1:07:58] marman no that uh that is a mistake I
[1:08:02] put it down all right director marman
[1:08:04] then director deck so easy to do um I I
[1:08:08] guess I think there's value in what
[1:08:11] director Nicholson is saying and I and
[1:08:13] but I'm uncomfortable sort of flipping
[1:08:16] um resolutions so so quickly without
[1:08:20] maybe having staff take a look at both
[1:08:22] of them and saying maybe there's a
[1:08:24] better one to come forward was that we
[1:08:26] could vote you know look at this
[1:08:27] afternoon so I'm wondering if staff you
[1:08:29] know I think that's where staff sort of
[1:08:31] started as well saying you know give us
[1:08:33] Direction we'll come back let's let's
[1:08:35] have something this afternoon because I
[1:08:37] think there's there's pieces of both but
[1:08:39] I think as as other directors are saying
[1:08:42] we also have to be strategic about what
[1:08:44] we can accomplish so uh I don't know if
[1:08:48] this is is a referral motion or we just
[1:08:51] leave it till defer it till the board
[1:08:58] yeah I don't have the answer to that
[1:09:00] director martman I would look to the
[1:09:01] rest of the committee Miss Miles Wilson
[1:09:03] you look like you're about to add
[1:09:04] something yeah just if there is
[1:09:06] direction we can we can um refer this to
[1:09:09] the board this afternoon and then I can
[1:09:10] connect with our Environmental Services
[1:09:12] team who helped put this together and we
[1:09:15] can um take a look at the the the
[1:09:17] wording and um and uh carry on with the
[1:09:20] discussion and hopefully land a revised
[1:09:23] uh resolution that uh sit well with
[1:09:27] everyone okay so how about we have that
[1:09:28] as an option then we we can refer the
[1:09:31] motion uh to staff to refine the the
[1:09:35] resolution and bring it back to uh the
[1:09:38] board for for the discussion this
[1:09:40] afternoon some along those lines M Miles
[1:09:43] Wilson all right Dr
[1:09:49] deck uh thank you can you hear
[1:09:53] me yep okay thanks
[1:09:56] um I
[1:09:58] think I can't uh
[1:10:02] understate overstate I can't I can't say
[1:10:07] how much value there is in thinking of
[1:10:12] Forestry or any activity on the on uh
[1:10:16] private managed Forest land that's more
[1:10:18] important than um whole of watershed
[1:10:22] approach in terms of Forestry and water
[1:10:26] sustainability I mean water is the key
[1:10:30] here you know it's what the release of
[1:10:34] of water from the watersheds
[1:10:37] in you know over logged mountains is
[1:10:42] what causes the the pulses the big
[1:10:46] floods the lack of water in the summer
[1:10:50] that that whole timing thing is because
[1:10:53] of logging so our
[1:10:56] yeah so so in term that's my perspective
[1:10:58] sorry I I can't just speak for everyone
[1:11:01] but from my perspective water is the
[1:11:04] most important reason we need to look at
[1:11:07] changing private managed Forest land so
[1:11:10] I don't want that to be forgotten at
[1:11:13] all thanks director deck I'll turn to
[1:11:16] director
[1:11:18] aach very quick for the reasons director
[1:11:21] mclinton said keep it simple and just
[1:11:23] even getting the ACT continued and
[1:11:26] reviewed that's the goal that's that's
[1:11:28] the win and all these other points will
[1:11:30] be built into there so as they say keep
[1:11:33] it simple so I support director
[1:11:36] mcclinton's
[1:11:38] position director
[1:11:40] Justice yeah just very simply I would be
[1:11:43] in favor of keeping the original motion
[1:11:47] and adding a second one
[1:11:49] expressing
[1:11:50] um director Nicholson's uh motion
[1:11:57] all right so here in the comments around
[1:12:01] the the virtual table here I think we
[1:12:03] can either um we can either vote on the
[1:12:07] the motion on the floor as is we can
[1:12:09] refer it back to staff to come up with
[1:12:12] some refinements to the the original
[1:12:15] resolution or um or we can just leave
[1:12:19] the leave leave the resolution as
[1:12:23] is do we do we want to test see if there
[1:12:25] is an appetite for referring it to staff
[1:12:27] so we can at least consider the I I see
[1:12:29] you director one sec do we want to refer
[1:12:33] this to staff just to see what some
[1:12:34] alternative wording might look like for
[1:12:36] consideration of the the board meeting
[1:12:38] alternative
[1:12:39] director yeah I'd move that to refer it
[1:12:42] to the board this afternoon okay so we
[1:12:45] refer the motion on the floor to staff
[1:12:47] to refine the wording of the abic
[1:12:50] resolution regarding private managed
[1:12:52] Forest lands for the board's
[1:12:54] consideration
[1:12:55] during the uh January 2022
[1:12:58] meeting does that work so moved by
[1:13:02] director seal second by director
[1:13:03] mclinton
[1:13:04] call the question all in
[1:13:07] favor and
[1:13:10] opposed A none opposed so it's been
[1:13:12] referred we can discuss this
[1:13:15] further very soon so we'll now move on
[1:13:18] to question period and I'll turn to
[1:13:22] staff as we are in a virtual meeting and
[1:13:24] ask if um
[1:13:26] if there are any virtual attendees their
[1:13:28] hands
[1:13:29] raised nope we do not have anyone
[1:13:31] registered for question period and
[1:13:33] nobody in the spare room deide
[1:13:36] me all right um we do not have a closed
[1:13:40] session a days so I think we can move
[1:13:42] straight to adjournment I'll look for a
[1:13:44] motion to
[1:13:45] adjourn uh move by director Nicholson's
[1:13:48] second by director Duncan call the
[1:13:50] question all in favor and
[1:13:52] opposed and opposed motion carries so
[1:13:55] I'll declare this meeting a jour