Happy New Year - The work continues
Committee of the whole meeting Tuesday, Jan 9th, WW Ind. Article goes viral and more...
Happy New Year members, we hope you had a relaxing holiday season!
We have many new members, and some that are not even local. Please note that these updates about OUR council meetings, can easily be adapted to and relatable with your local policies, as they are all the same around the province, and worldwide.
Time seems to be flying by, especially as local councils and Regional Districts plow ahead with fast-paced changes, that are almost impossible to keep up with. It seems to be a rush to push through as much as they can in the next few years.
There was a big win in December when a large group of concerned citizens came before council with a petition asking to NOT accept the staffs recommendation to put 6 x 5G antennas on a water tower in their neighbourhood. Cllr. Justice put forward a motion to deny the application by Rogers stating that council should listen to the citizens, and make them feel they are being listened to. We would hope this sentiment was followed for all community input and for all topics going forward though.
All Councilors voted for Cllr. Justice’s motion besides Cllr. Istace who stated that North Cowichan could use the $3333.33 a month from Rogers to lease the water tower space, disregarding the community's pleas regarding possible health issues, and concerns over depreciation of property values.
On Tuesday, Jan 9th, 5 pm (4:30 to sign in to speak) North Cowichan is holding a Meeting Of The Whole. ( Please note there will be a silent protest held outside by a group fighting local crime and the like, so get there early for parking spaces)
(Full meeting: https://pubnorthcowichan.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx)
The Climate adaption strategy stage 3 will now be presented to Council by Urban Systems.
( See PowerPoint here: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14665)
As we see, many of their future plans are laid out here, which have been written about extensively in the Westward Independent, and spoken to in council by COAP - from forced retrofitting of old homes to expecting 40% of residents to give up their vehicles. You also see things like “restoration of natural assets” which aligns with Canada’s 30x30 plan.
Though North Cowichan’s Mayor has stated that anyone who speaks about the Climate Action or Mitigation Plans won’t be listened to as these plans override any councilor or public’s opinion against these plans - we believe this does not represent democracy, so we urge the public to write or show up to the council at ANY time you feel you would like to express your worries or concerns around these plans that will drastically affect your lives.
This “plan” suggests worse wildfires, flooding, and droughts, yet there is nothing included about reserving water during ‘flood’ seasons, for the drought season, nor does it touch on the spraying of toxic chemicals on our foliage that help mitigate forest fires ( see the viral article regarding spraying here: https://wwind.ca/concerns-rise-as-ministry-of-forests-plans-extensive-herbicide-spraying-in-regional-districts/) And read comments on the FB page here from folks all over BC that found worse wildfires after previous spraying: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554980496757)
The report also claims high winds and loss of power as an “extreme” future issue, yet in the same report, they push all households to switch to electric power only.
This is just more Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goal mandates appearing at local levels, as that is the only way they CAN be implemented on a global scale. All councils attend meetings, and apply for grants/funding, from the Union Of BC Municipalities (UBCM) who pledged to follow the UN SDGs in 2020 https://www.ubcm.ca/convention-resolutions/resolutions/resolutions-database/sustainable-development-goals
Another topic on the Agenda sees CERCA ( Cowichan Estuary Restoration) applying for a tax dollar grant of $2900, and staff states that more can be given if the council approves. This grant would cost taxpayers 0.01% tax increase. CERCA wants this grant for the second phase of their micro-plastic study in the estuary, which will be in conjunction with Simon Fraser University. Microplastics are a problem in our waters, however, this is a larger problem that should be taken on by the Federal and Provincial Governments. There are hundreds of studies already published that show microplastics in our water as a problem. Should local tax dollars be used for another “study” where the outcome can not be solved locally? CERCA has also advocated for the flooding of the estuary and against industry on the estuary spit for many years.
Web Site : https://www.cowichanestuary.com/
Recommendation from staff : https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=14659
Council turned down Grace Life Pregnancy Centre for a tax break of a similar amount - a group that offers very important counseling to residents while considering money for a microplastic study …..
Finally, on the agenda, we see exactly what we thought we would see when council removed our utilities from our taxes last year - and an increase in property taxes (negating the “savings” in taxes from removing the utilities), while additionally increasing our utilities 4-7% year after year…a similar amount proposed increase to our property taxes.
Council voted 3-4 in December to keep pumping money into the Climate Action and Energy Plan and the ‘never-ending story’ of Quamichan Lake - $190,700 per year to the municipality’s Climate Action and Energy Plan, and $100,000 per year to the already funded reserve coffer for ‘mitigation work’ at Quamichan Lake, instead of holding off for a year or two to help allocate tax dollars and savings to our utilities.
Economic Development Survey open until Feb 2nd - North Cowichan states they want to engage local businesses…. Please fill out the survey, or we will end up with ANOTHER statistically irrelevant survey that is used to manipulate all policy moving forward. https://www.connectnorthcowichan.ca/ec-dev
Sincerely,
Team COAP