TERRACE MAYOR Dave Pernarowski is part of two new committees with the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).
After being elected by acclamation for a one-year part-time executive-at-large position, Pernarowski flew to Vancouver to attend a series of meetings related to his new position.
The UBCM position involves studying and understanding areas of interest to communities as they relate to provincial policy, and the areas within which Pernarowski will be working are First Nations relations and community economic development.
Both are UBCM committees that he asked to be part of prior to being selected for those roles.
“I asked to be placed on the Community Economic Development committee to help connect Terrace and other B.C. communities to emerging economic development opportunities like value-added manufacturing, tourism, technology sectors as well as broader ... opportunities for local government,” he said, noting this committee acts as a community advocate by making policy recommendations to the province.
“The First Nations Relations Committee oversees all policy development work related to First Nations issues including treaty negotiations, negotiations outside the treaty process and governance reform,” he said.
“This committee also focuses on relationship building between First Nations and local governments. I can bring many ideas to this committee table that will help us form best practices and initiatives that can be applied across the Province,” he said.
Pernarowski's position with the UBCM involves looking at municipal issues on a provincial policy level and then reporting back to a board of directors quarterly. He has said before that his role on committees is not so much about lobbying for Terrace, but working to understand issues that affect a variety of B.C. communities as they relate to the provincial government level.
“I'm anticipating the workload to be heavy,” he said. “I'll need to review these files, meet with key contacts, and study the details to help us form policy and provide direction to the provincial government.”