A coalition of smaller community mayors in BC is said to be close to coming together to demand action from the new BC government to try to end the perpetual cycle of emergency room shutdowns plaguing the province.

Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz says his counterpart in Lillooet, Mayor Laurie Hopfl, is in the final stages of creating a ‘Mayors ER Group,’ something he says she began developing out of the Union of BC Municipalities convention in September.

“Just like the coast has the mayors transit group [Translink], we need to have an Interior mayors group on ER closures,” said Goetz.  “We have to have an answer to this. You can’t just keep going in this direction and expect everything to be OK. It’s just…it’s not.”

Word of the group’s formation by the Mayor of Lillooet comes as her community goes through its latest emergency room shutdown, which began at 7am Friday.

The 25 hour closure is scheduled to wrap up at 8am Saturday, with no explanation this time from Interior Health as to the rationale behind the shutdown.

A lack of physician coverage has been the root cause of ER closures in Lillooet this year.

Interior Health is recommending people in the Lillooet area make the two-and-a-half hour drive to Kamloops for emergency medical coverage.

Radio NL has put out calls to Hopfl for more details on her plans.

Goetz calls for movement as NDP prepares to form government

With the judicial recount in Surrey-Guildford now confirmed for New Democrat MLA-elect Garry Begg, by 22 votes, Premier David Eby will be able to form a majority government, provided there is no challenge to the results in the appeal window, which expires on Tuesday.

Eby has been meeting with his New Democrat caucus — both as a group and as individuals — to work how his new government will take shape.

As that continues to transpire, Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz says he’s hopeful Laurie Hopfl’s coalition of mayors can apply immediate pressure on the new government.

“She’s continuing to work on that. I hope to see something involving that group here pretty quick,” said Goetz.  “Then we can start talking to the provincial government on a real plan that will work for all of us, rather than a bunch of us jumping around. We need a real plan.”

Goetz is among a growing chorus of local leaders who have been calling for the removal of Adrian Dix as Health Minister — a role he’s held since 2011.

“Hopefully this new government forming will actually find a spokesman who can actually make some sense, and stop making ridiculous comments and focus on what the problem is and get them fixed,” said Goetz.

The swearing-in of David Eby’s new-look cabinet has been scheduled for Monday, November 18th.

We are expected to start learning more about potential cabinet decisions in the week ahead, as MLA-elects from the opposition BC Conservative Party and the BC Green Party get sworn-in on Tuesday, November 12th, followed by New Democrat members the following day.

Eby has as many as a dozen cabinet roles to fill because of retirements and election losses, including the key portfolios of Finance, Education, Transportation and Environment.

The Premier does retain the option of moving or dumping the ministers who are returning to the Legislature, with some observers suggesting Adrian Dix may end up running a different ministry.

Eby also has the option of shrinking or modifying the cabinet line-up, which included include 28 ministerial positions at the time the writ was dropped for the election.