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His Worship, Mayor Derek R. Corrigan delivered the following
2017 Year-End Address:
“In October, you may
recall that our City Manager, Lambert Chu, presented Burnaby’s new Corporate
Strategic Plan to City Council, and highlighted a number of the policies and
initiatives that the City will advance, driven by the Plan’s vision, goals
and objectives.
Tonight, I’d like to talk
a bit about one of the key City structures that ensures the views of our
citizens, non-profits and businesses are always well represented - our City’s
Committees - which are responsible for bringing forward to Council
recommendations on almost all areas of City activities.
At every Council meeting,
Councillors bring forward recommendations and progress reports from the Committees.
Of course, we see the Councillors here at Council meetings each week, but
between Council meetings, Councillors work closely with Committee members to
formulate ideas that eventually shape City policies.
It’s one of the key ways
that citizens are involved in policy decisions from the outset and ensures
that they remain involved throughout each stage of policy development.
Citizens and
organizations bring forward ideas to our Committees, our Parks, Recreation
and Culture Commission, and our Public Library Board for the consideration of
staff, Councillors and citizen members. Because of this interaction, we’ve
had tremendous success in forming the kinds of progressive and inclusive
policies that create the welcoming, vibrant, sustainable neighbourhoods that
make up Burnaby today. Our policies and plans are citizen-driven, which
makes us confident that the actions that they generate will be embraced by
our community.
In addition to having
citizens as Committee members, Burnaby has engaged community members - by the
thousands - in developing our overarching strategies: our Economic
Development, Social Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability strategies
and Official Community Plan.
Our Standing and Steering
Committees were set up to enable people from all walks of life to bring ideas
forward directly to staff and Council members, to deliberate with them, to
hear the ideas and opinions of their peers, then to take them forward for
Council for consideration and action.
Because of our Committee
system, all of our City’s most valued assets and attributes have been
developed based on citizen input. By the time an idea is brought to Council,
it has already been subject to extensive debate and comprehensive community
discussion. This allows us to move forward on initiatives with confidence
that we’re doing so based on our community’s vision, values and goals.
Of the hundreds of ideas
and initiatives that have been incubated in our Committees, I’d like to
mention just a few tonight that will illustrate the kind of important work
that goes on before the ideas even arrive to Council for a vote.
One of our newest
Committees - the Sustainable City Advisory Committee, which advises Council
on policy issues related to the City’s social, economic and environmental
plans - put forward an idea to Council a few weeks ago … the need for an
electric vehicle policy. After looking at our goals on greenhouse gas
reduction, the Committee recommended that advancing such a policy could help
us to meet those aspirations. Council agreed and work on an electric vehicle
strategy is now under way.
This Committee - which
has Councillor Dhaliwal as Chair, and Councillors Calendino, Volkow and Wang
as members, was formed this year, after completion of the City’s trilogy of
sustainability plans.
In September, through
community consultation, this Committee also adopted a draft Dementia-Friendly
Community Action Plan, which will help to meet the Social Sustainability
Strategy’s broad goals of community inclusion, community liveability and
community resilience. It also supports Burnaby’s ongoing age-friendly
initiatives and the health and wellness objectives of the Burnaby Healthier
Community Partnership.
The ideas that come from
our Parks, Recreation and Culture Commission can be seen throughout the City
at all times, including the work currently underway on both the new Central
Park Perimeter Trail, and the Willingdon Linear Park, a beautiful and unique
multi-use green space linking the new Brentwood to the Heights. And our much-loved
Edmonds Community Centre and adjacent park were designed according to what
people in the neighbourhood told us would best serve their needs. Now our new
ice rinks in the Edmonds area are being designed based on citizen input. The
Commission is chaired by Councillor McDonnell, with Councillor Johnston as a
member.
And because of the great
work of our Financial Management Committee, who is always looking for - and
finding - innovative ways to meet our citizens’ aspirations with minimum
impact on taxpayers, we will be able to design and construct this new sports
facility using funds received from developers in the City, with no impact on
taxpayers. The Committee, chaired by Councillor Johnston, with Councillor Jordan
as Vice-Chair and Councillors Calendino and McDonell as members, brought
forward this proposal in October.
Our Committees make a
point of getting out into the community, for their meetings and for
additional engagement. They are transparent and allow for direct citizen
access, which helps us to design our programs to reflect our City’s
diversity. Parks Commission meetings, for example, are often held at
community centres throughout the City and they always have an open mike at
the end of each meeting.
We are a uniquely accessible
Council because of our committee structure - because in addition to engaging
at Council meetings, citizens can and do bring forward ideas to all of our
Committees, Boards and Commissions in all areas of our City throughout each
year.
The work of our Community
Heritage Commission - which is chaired by Councillor Jordan, with Councillor
Dhaliwal as Vice-Chair and Councillor Volkow as a member - can also be seen
throughout Burnaby, as they continue to focus on bringing our City’s history
to life. From citizen responses, we know that our community wants easy
access to history, so you can now go online and search Council minutes and
reports from 1894 to present day. We are adding to our digital records every
day, and oral histories are also accessible online.
And, of course, in many
areas of Burnaby there are sites that honour citizens and businesses that helped
build our City. Just this year, as part of our Burnaby 125/Canada 150
celebrations, we added many new commemorative plaques, including one that
recognizes workers involved in the 1931 Barnet Lumber Company Mill Workers
Strike, and another for those who lost their lives in the 1909 Great Northern
Railway disaster. Kapoor Singh Siddoo, a pioneer Indo-Canadian Sikh, who
founded the Kapoor Sawmills Ltd. and used his success to advocate for civil
liberties for the Southeast Asian community in British Columbia, is also
honoured.
Also working
closely every day with community members is our Public Library Board.
Councillor Calendino is the Council representative. The Board includes eight
citizens who help keep our libraries responsive and relevant to our citizens’
needs at all times. With direction from the Board, we have seen a new
emphasis on digital technologies, an ongoing focus on the provision of
multi-language reading materials, and the hosting of dozens of
community-building events and programs, such as the popular summer reading
club. Citizen board members participate as volunteers because they care
about the community and are committed to ensuring that our Burnaby libraries
remain the valuable assets they have always been. Often, for newcomers to
Burnaby, it is in our libraries that they first learn about their new City
and the resources available to them.
Another Committee focused
on providing important community resources is our Public Safety Committee,
which replaced the Community Policing Committee to look more broadly at
safety, including policing, fire, and emergency planning. This Committee
works closely with all relevant agencies to maximize community involvement
and public safety. Just recently, they directed the implementation of
several new safety measures to address traffic safety concerns at Canada Way
and Rayside.
Community Policing
Advisory Committees in each of Burnaby’s four community policing districts
operate as sub-committees of the Public Safety Committee. These provide
additional opportunities for individual citizens, organizations and
businesses to give direct input into the development of policing priorities
and to identify opportunities to enhance public safety.
One of our busiest Committees
is our Planning and Development Committee, chaired by Councillor Jordan, with
Councillor Johnston as Vice-Chair and Councillors Dhaliwal, McDonell and Wang
as members. The Planning and Development Committee advises Council on
transportation planning, affordable housing, City land leasing for non-market
and special needs housing, planning issues for residential land use and the
implications of federal and provincial policies on these topics. A key area
of focus is the creation of initiatives that will help to address the high
cost of housing for Burnaby citizens. Their work has led to many new
proposals and partnerships that will help thousands of people in our City.
One of the Committee’s
most recent successes is the partnership that will see a new, 14-storey
apartment built in Metrotown that will have 125 non-market units. The
project is a partnership between New Vista, B.C. Housing and Thind
Properties, with B.C. Housing committing up to $9.1 million and the City
offering $5.6 million of density bonus funding received from developers.
We’re very excited about this project and hope that it will be a model for
other development. Construction is expected to start in May.
Our International
Relations and Friendship Cities Committee focuses on linking Burnaby citizens
and businesses to the valuable cultural and business opportunities beyond our
borders. This Committee is chaired by Councillor Calendino, with Councillor
Wang as Vice-Chair and Councillor McDonell as a member. This Committee
allows citizens to reach well beyond our cities borders to learn from and
work with representatives from our sister cities and our friendship cities.
We have relationships with cities in China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the USA.
The Committee assists
Burnaby citizens and businesses to participate in projects and exchanges that
promote cultural awareness, joint learning opportunities, and trade and
economic development.
I hope that hearing about
the great work being done by our Committees will encourage more citizens to
get involved in our Committees, either by presenting at meetings or becoming
a Committee member. It’s another great way to get more involved in helping
to shape our City - and, for some citizens, it’s a first step toward being
even more interested in civic government. Many of our City Councillors over
the years started their careers by becoming involved with a City Committee!
As you can see, committee
work is critical to policy development here in Burnaby. I’d like to thank our
Councillors and staff for their ongoing commitment to maximizing
opportunities for public engagement. And I’d like to thank the thousands of
citizens who have chosen to contribute their ideas and energy to our Committees
and broader consultation processes over the past year – and throughout the
all of Burnaby’s 125 years. Your work continues to make Burnaby an ever
better city. Council looks forward to continuing to work with you to achieve
our City’s ambitious, but achievable, dreams.
Thank you to everyone
here with us tonight, those watching over the internet and those who follow
our website.”
MOVED BY COUNCILLOR JOHNSTON
SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR CALENDINO
THAT the 2017 Year-End Address, as
presented by His Worship, Mayor Derek R. Corrigan, be received for
information.
CARRIED
UNANIMOUSLY
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