At a March 25 Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting, the Village of Pemberton (VOP) sat down with interim Green Party leader and Sea to Sky MLA Jeremy Valeriote to share policy goal updates from the provincial government and challenges facing the village.
Right off the bat, Valeriote reiterated his commitment to seeing regional transit this year.
“The one that I'm going to spend most of my time driving towards, [is] a commitment to regional transit this year. So that gives us nine months, as I keep reminding the Minister of Transportation" Valeriote said. "And so that commitment is in exchange for our votes on confidence and supply.”
The NDP won a single-seat majority in the 2024 provincial election, while the Greens have a two-member caucus. To better the chances of legislation passing, the parties announced a confidence-and-supply deal in December, committing the two Greens to provide votes for Premier Eby’s NDP. The agreement was finalized on March 12, and sets out 12 policy areas for collaboration.
Of particular interest, Valeriote singled out the removal of barriers to community health facilities, a review of the primary care system, expanding public coverage of psychologists, a commitment to build 30,000 units of affordable non-market housing during the government’s mandate, a pledge to commit $50 million annually toward electric heat pumps in 2025 and 2026, and a review of B.C. forests with First Nations and other stakeholders.
Downloaded responsibilities
Officials shared concerns about the VOP’s ability to take on key services passed down from the provincial government. Councillor Ted Craddock led with concerns about the Village paying for 70 per cent of an impending municipal police force transition—estimated at $1.3 million in the year of transition—required by provincial law once the Village crosses the 5,000 population mark.
“I think what we're looking for is some support and to find a way to ease that transition,” he said. Craddock also indicated the Village is unlikely to hit the threshold by the 2026 census, but is set to start saving for the transition in the 2025 budget.
“It needs to be a little bit more graduated,” added Mayor Mike Richman. “So that's at the heart of it—that whole system has to change.”
Another issue associated with a growing population is mandates around active transportation. Councillor Katrina Nightingale noted B.C. Housing mandates that local governments consider and prioritize active transportation when planning for housing—which can make applying for housing grants in Pemberton tricky.
“The housing changes that have been mandated to us have a big impact on parking and cars, numbered cars on the road," Nightingale said. "But we don't have the capacity to in any way improve our active transportation.”
Council also voiced concerns over grant funding for projects. Richman noted grant funding is often insufficient, with municipalities competing for necessary upgrades to services and amenities and grants for maintenance of those new programs rarely on offer.
“We need to shift away from that model as our way of accessing provincial funds,” he told Valeriote. “We feel like we have to remind [the provincial government] that those are our taxpayers’ money [and we] have to go scratch and fight for them."
Richman proposed a funding model to support small communities outside of the grant system.
Councillors also noted that the bridge over Pemberton Creek, while stable, is prone to ice buildup when water levels are high, due to it having been built too low to accommodate snowmelt. Richman said the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure previously told the VOP the bridge was safe.
“So it's not very high on the replacement level, because the infrastructure itself is solid,” he said of the bridge. “But it's the placement of it.”
The mayor also noted seismic requirements for building seemed overly onerous, given that Pemberton lies outside of the highest relative hazard for earthquakes.
“The fact that we have to build to that structural degree, again, is cost prohibitive,” Richman told Valeriote. “And [it’s] just the fact that we can't access any of that funding unless we prove and agree to build to those standards when those standards don't suit us.”
Valeriote noted that, despite the Green Party only holding two seats in the legislature, they had “a pretty good relationship with most ministers,” and that most were “keen to work with us.”
Richman said the VOP would circle back after the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities convention, scheduled for Sept. 22 to 26.
