The week-long municipal talkfest that is the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) annual convention took place in Vancouver last week, with local politicians converging on the city to discuss everything municipal, grab a few ministerial ears, and sit and listen to provincial politicians make promises in the run-up to the Oct. 19 provincial election.
For the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), it had lined up, and booked a lot of ministerial meetings over the course of the week, with meetings set up with 10 ministers: Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation; Housing; Environment and Climate Change Strategy; Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure; Municipal Affairs; Water, Land and Resource Stewardship; Attorney General; Childcare, Minister of State; Finance; and Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport.
Asked about those meetings, Whistler Mayor Jack Crompton said there was plenty of talking and relationship-building, but little in the way of promises.
“With the upcoming election, ministers are obviously shifting into campaign mode,” he said in an interview.
“So as I expected, no concrete agreements were struck, [but] we heard commitments on housing, affordability, tourism among other things.
“I found it a good opportunity to listen, and to lock down some of the important items of agreement with ministry staff. We’ve been having conversations with these ministers and their ministry staff for a long time. Ensuring that our priorities carry on to the next government, whoever they are, is a real priority for us.”
Overall, Crompton said the meetings were successful in that regard.
Of course, the UBCM convention took place one month before the province elects a new government. Premier David Eby of the NDP, leader of the BC Conservatives John Rustad, and Green leader Sonia Fursteneau all spoke at the convention. What once looked like an election for the NDP to coast to victory has changed over the course of 2024 into what appears to be a two-horse race between the NDP and the Conservatives, while BC United, and the current leader of the opposition Kevin Falcon, exit stage left following the calamitous collapse of their polling fortunes. Falcon did not speak at UBCM.
In that context, Crompton said it was no surprise there were no commitments secured for the Resort Municipality of Whistler.
“A government going to an election will make promises, but it’s difficult for them to follow through on them until they’re elected,” he said.
Nevertheless, UBCM delegates got to listen to all three major parties running candidates in the election—and Crompton said attendance at each address was robust.
“It was an interesting glimpse into the election. All of them talked about housing, affordability, health-care and climate … Obviously their approaches to those issues are very different, but it's clear those topics will frame the debate,” he said.
“We’ll work with whoever is elected, and we’ll hold whoever is elected to their campaign promises. I was very focused on commitments made by each party leader and how they would impact Whistler positively and negatively. We’ll be holding candidates to their promises.”
Crompton said it would “make sense for UBCM to move the date of the conference until after the election,” but added he believed the current timing put more responsibility on local governments to engage with higher levels of government all year.
“I have never been of the opinion that the only time advocacy happens is at UBCM," he said. "My goal has been to be in regular touch with government year-round. [It’s] more effective. I also think it helps avoid issues related to the timing of elections and the timing of conventions.”
All seven RMOW elected officials attended the UBCM convention together with municipal CAO, Ginny Cullen. The RMOW had $31,500 budgeted for attendance. Besides ministerial meetings, a raft of resolutions determining UBCM lobbying of the province and political addresses, attendees attended a wide range of sessions including on human-bear conflict, housing policy and the drug crisis.
