Council Meeting, Viral Westward Article, Urban Development Institute's lobby power, sneak peek at an article in this month's WW Ind.!
North Cowichan Meeting Wed, Jan 17th 5pm ( 4:30 sign in to speak)
Dear community,
Thank you all for your continued support, and welcome to all the new members, many of whom came from our popular article in last month’s Westward Independent regarding the spraying of a large portion of the province starting this year. (View article here: https://wwind.ca/concerns-rise-as-ministry-of-forests-plans-extensive-herbicide-spraying-in-regional-districts/ )
Though many of our Substacks focus on local policy, we have witnessed all councils working in lock-step towards the same policies from town to town, and many here will be able to approach their councils with similar concerns.
We have written previously on Bills 44, 46, and 47, which take away local council’s power over height maximums, demand height minimums by the province, removing public consultation around buildings, demand high-rises near public transportation, demand that local governments provide housing before they are allowed to move tent cities and SO much more.
Adrienne had to phone in for this one:
Who lobbied for these bills? The Urban Development Institute (UDI) - so many conflicts of interest that we thought we would share a great breakdown by a very well-researched fellow in the Victoria region.
View Presentation here: https://rumble.com/v40avbb-bc-15-minute-smart-city-coalition-guest-speaker-mr.-sasha-izard-dec-5-2023.html
Council meeting notes of interest:
COAP’s letter is not on the agenda for debate unless a councilor pulls it to discuss at the end, however, it is up on the agenda for information purposes: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14975
Peter Rusland has put forth a letter as well asking that North Cowichan to consider putting our forest reserve, which is well renowned for how it has been maintained through our forestry department for 30 years, under a UNESCO designation. (https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14972)
What is UNESCO? “UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication and information. UNESCO promotes knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas to accelerate mutual understanding and a more perfect knowledge of each other's lives. UNESCO's programs contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in the 2030 Agenda, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.”
A United Nations group that helps achieve the U.N. Agenda 2030 goals. It seems a bi-weekly job pointing out all the NGOs and policies that local politicians are presented with on the agenda that are tied to the U.N.
Of Interest:
A background (sales pitch?) from KPMG on their audit strategies (read here: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14968)
Notable pages contain references to ESGs (a scam cemented into play by the UN in a 2004 report called “Who Cares”), COP26, “diversity and inclusion” and more.
The final reading of the budget will be on the table: “In the Operating and Capital Review, RCMP, fire and Vancouver Island Regional Library increases accounted for 4.22% of the increase; however, with the reduction to 90% of the RCMP contract, this increase now accounts for 3.17% of the tax increase. Page 2 7030 Trans-Canada Highway | Duncan, BC V9L 6A1 Ph 250.746.3100 Fax 250.746.3133 www.northcowichan.ca Throughout the Utility Rate Review, Council approved various increases to parcel taxes for water and sewer systems, which are part of the property tax bill and can be deferred by our aging residents if elected. Also approved was an increase of 6% to excess water charges in 2024 and an additional 0.5% every year thereafter for nine years in an effort to promote water conservation.” As we noted before, as soon as they removed the utilities from our tax bill, those would increase alongside our municipal taxes.
The next edition of The Westward Independent will be out very soon. We have released one article early on our FB page, as we see it as very important to be passed around and brought to light regarding children being allowed to participate in the “safe supply” program. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554980496757
Sincerely,
Team COAP