It’s been nearly 10 years of trips to Victoria, commissioning studies, countless meetings with provincial cabinet ministers and perhaps a little arm-twisting but finally there’s good news for the Northwest.
Final details are still being worked out, but northwestern local governments are getting some recognition in a $250 million grant program to be paid out over the next five years.
News of the grant was contained in the provincial government’s 2024 budget released Feb. 22.
Grouped in the Northwest BC Resource Benefits Alliance, 21 local governments from Haida Gwaii to Vanderhoof have been pushing for a share of the taxes the provincial government gets from large industries.
They say that because those industries are located outside of their boundaries, they cannot tax them yet are affected because employees from those industries live within their communities and use municipal services.
The money announced last week isn’t exactly the tax-sharing formula wanted by the alliance but it is more than welcome, said Terrace mayor Sean Bujtas who was in the legislature building in Victoria when the budget was released.
“I am happy with this deal and I’m OK with the term on it and I’m OK with the amount of money. It is not enough money for us to get our infrastructure deficit on the right side of things, but what this gives us is a foot in the door,” he said.
“And it gives us the ability to prove to the government that we can spend this money responsibly on much-needed infrastructure inside our communities. And I think it will be a very easy decision for them in five years to not only extend this agreement but to actually increase it.”
Bujtas said a committee of alliance representatives from larger and smaller local governments has now been formed to figure out how the money will be divided up.
He’s even suggesting that Thornhill, which is part of the Kitimat-Stikine regional district and as such has been traditionally grouped within the regional district for other grant programs, may warrant specific treatment because of its urban-like neighbourhoods.
“I do think Thornhill is an anomaly. They need to be considered a little bit differently. Unlike other [rural] areas, they are not as spread out so there is the need for infrastructure in their community.”
Bujtas, one of three current co-chairs of the alliance, gave credit to past local government representatives who consistently pushed the taxation-sharing message forward.
Until the amounts of money alliance members will receive are known, how it will be used cannot yet be determined.
But Bujtas said Terrace will concentrate on infrastructure and that follows the pattern set when the province sent $150 million over 2019 and 2020 to the North.
The province was also clear in the budget announcement saying the money “will be used to support planning and construction of municipal infrastructure, such as roads, water, sewer and other community facilities needed to support new industrial development and create liveable communities for their workforce.”
Bujtas said the alliance was grateful for the money, but added, “We always kind of feel like it’s our own money.”
That the large majority of projects paid taxes to the province and the government did not share the revenue was unreasonable, he said.
“So they’ve done the reasonable thing by sharing that revenue. It’s a good start.”