BBOT represents business community to 100 municipal leaders for Federation of Canadian Municipalities gathering

From March 4 through 7, approximately one hundred municipal leaders from across Canada, gathered in Burnaby for a board meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the national voice of municipal government – likely the last FCM board meeting before the federal election. At the close of the meeting, a news release was issued by FCM that details one of the key meeting outcomes, a united call for all federal parties to make a deliberate commitment in their election platforms to work with cities and communities to strengthen Canada’s economy through its municipalities.

Discussions over the course of the four-day meeting covered topics of common municipal interest, ranging from issues about the environment and sustainable development to community safety and crime prevention, municipal infrastructure and transportation policy, and international relations. Delegates also planted a tree in our city outside of the Bob Prittie library in Civic Square. The Acer Glabrum, a tree native to BC, was donated by Tree Canada as part of the FCM’s Living Legacy program, which aims to plant a tree in every community that hosts an FCM event.

In addition, through the FCM’s “Canada by the Book Program”, an initiative started by Victoria councillor and FCM Board member, Chris Coleman, three years ago as a way to increase literacy rates in Canada, FCM members collected and donated dozens of children’s books to be donated to a Burnaby school. Most of the books, in some way, represent the donating representative’s home region. The books were donated to Burnaby’s Maywood School. Through the program, to date, more than 700 books have been donated to host cities.

Also of particular interest to Burnaby is the fact that the FCM passed a resolution, calling for the reinstitution of a full public hearing process to the National Energy Board’s consideration of all applications, including the Kinder Morgan application. Burnaby has issued a news release that highlights this resolution and its implications.

“The Federation of Canadian Municipalities board meetings always provide an invaluable opportunity for municipalities from across Canada to discuss areas of mutual interest and to benefit from sharing information on successful outcomes,” says FCM director and City of Burnaby councillor, Sav Dhaliwal. “They also allow us to come together on topics of common concern, enabling municipalities’ voices to be heard by senior levels of government, ensuring that municipal issues are considered not just locally, but provincially and federally as well.

“It was a pleasure to welcome FCM delegates to Burnaby to showcase our city’s many attributes, to enable local businesses, including the hosting Hilton Hotel, to benefit from offering delegates their many unique services, and to work with delegates toward the many successful outcomes that resulted from this meeting – outcomes that will benefit Burnaby and all of the participating cities.”