VICTORIA – Proposed legislative amendments respond to local government requests, give communities new tools to help deliver housing and dissolve the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality.

If passed by the legislature, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendments Act (No. 2), 2021, will:

Require local governments to consider developing or updating codes of conduct

Local elected officials have a responsibility to act in the best interests of their communities and be accountable to the residents of those communities for their choices. Proposed amendments to the Local Government Act, Community Charter and Vancouver Charter will add a new requirement for all municipal councils and regional district boards to publicly consider developing codes of conduct for their council or board members. The change provides a tool to strengthen local government responsible conduct by creating a regular process for elected officials to engage in conversations about shared expectations for conduct as they carry out their responsibilities and govern together. This is another step in ongoing work that the Province, the Union of BC Municipalities and the Local Government Management Association have committed to doing together, and the approach was supported by a special resolution endorsed at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in September 2021.

Authorize the dissolution of the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality

The Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality was incorporated in 2013 with no residents, to facilitate the development of a ski resort proposed in the Jumbo Valley. As that ski resort proposal is not proceeding and Jumbo does not have residents to request dissolution as required under existing legislation, the proposed amendments are required to disincorporate the municipality. The proposed changes to the Local Government Act and Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act will create a specific regulatory authority to allow the Province to dissolve Jumbo by revoking its letters patent and providing additional powers to address any administrative matters that may arise. The amendments will also withdraw the authority to incorporate a mountain resort municipality without residents in the future. The disincorporation of Jumbo is an integral step to support the proposal to create an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area in the Jumbo Valley.