RDN to call for provincial action on tiny homes, wolfdog hybrids, and other issues at upcoming convention

Nicole Knowles

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder

The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) board approved several resolutions, on subjects ranging from tiny homes to wolf dogs, that it will bring to the annual Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) convention later this spring.

The annual convention, held this year in Nanaimo at the conference centre April 11-13, provides a forum to discuss community issues from across Vancouver Island and coastal regions. Resolutions endorsed at the convention will be submitted to the Union of BC Municipalities, which acts as a voice for local governments to senior levels of government.

The RDN board approved 10 resolutions for the convention at its Jan. 14 board meeting.

That’s a big increase from a total of 27 resolutions over the last five years. While some directors worried about presenting so many resolutions, “the resolutions are the most valuable part of the convention and act as a resource to look back on when presenting local governments’ cases to ministries,” said Director Ben Geselbracht (City of Nanaimo), who is president of AVICC.

The 10 resolutions include:

1. A resolution on fire-resilient forest practices that calls on the province to require that forests within three kilometres of communities and community infrastructure such as drinking water reservoirs, be fire-resistant, resilient and biodiverse, and to ban the use of herbicides to kill deciduous trees and undergrowth within these fire-resistant biodiversity zones.

2. A call for the province to immediately prohibit the breeding and keeping of all dog/wolf hybrids, including first, second, and third generations.

3. A resolution to encourage the province, as a matter of national importance, to advocate for changes to the National Building Code to recognize tiny homes as an allowable dwelling unit and provide specific building requirements, and to follow up any such changes with updates to the BC Building Code.

4. A call for the province to establish a sustainable, recurring “Growing Communities Fund” to generate $1 billion annually through progressive taxation, to provide equitable and sustainable financial support for local governments across the province.

5. A request that the Ministry of Forests implement the recommendations from local governments and First Nations in the 2019 review of the provincial Private Managed Forest Land Program.

6. A request that the province establish a province-wide waste hauler licensing system, with a mandatory waste reporting system and an economic framework to encourage the management of waste within the region where it was generated.

7. A call for a province-wide disaster debris management plan that provides logistical, financial and operational support for local governments to develop and implement their own disaster and debris management plans.

8. A request that once the Minister of Environment and Parks approves a Solid Waste Management Plan, no further approvals be required for a regional district to act on the plan.

9. A request that the province take meaningful action to develop a comprehensive Circular Economy Strategy which includes public education and economic development considerations, such as expanding the province’s re-manufacturing and re-processing capacity for recyclable materials.

10. A request that the province develop a long-term waste management strategy that supports a circular economy, prioritizing waste reduction, material reuse and recycling, while maintaining resilience in the event of emergencies or disasters.