Kamloops City Councillor and outgoing past president of the Union of BC Municipalities is calling the last three days a success.
The annual UBCM convention was held from Tuesday to Thursday of this week. Arjun Singh says it was a weird convention since it had to be held virtually it was a lot different with just seven elected officials on the ground in Victoria when normally there would be thousands.
“It was super gratifying to see how many of our colleagues still came in, still participated in resolutions, participated in our education session and in our board elections. So, it was very good.”
Singh says he’s super happy that Kamloops Councillor Sadie Hunter was elected to the UBCM board as a Director at Large.
“It is important for our community to have people on the UBCM board I think. The board is an incredibly important liaison with the province on so many different issues and this convention, obviously in the midst of this pandemic, was critical for local government in so many ways.”
Singh calls his seven years on the UBCM board a successful run. “It’s been successful personally as a learning experience for me… You know, when I was first Vice-President of the UBCM a lot of this cannabis regulations started coming to the fore so they were looking for somebody form the interior to sit on a committee. We were able to suggest our business inspector Dave Jones on the committee. That’s just one example of how it was kind of helpful.”
“But I don’t want to be so parochial about just Kamloops, I mean we work in this amazing province and everything that we can do collectively also benefits each of us individually as communities. am really proud of the work we were able to do on climate action, on rural economic development, on policing things. The quality of people you meet during that experience is pretty amazing.”
“I have very,very good feeling about the board and will continue to have good feeling about the board. Looking forward for Sadie Hunter’s time there, I think she’s going to have an amazing experience and be very beneficial to that board. You know, with UBCM they always say you go in with your provincial hat on, but obviously first and foremost you are elected in your local community.”
Singh says is now looking to win a seat on the national board for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. FCM members will vote for Table Officers and Directors prior to the October 15 virtual AGM and will be invited to ratify the election winners at the AGM.
