SPC Monthly Meeting Minutes - Mar 25, 2013

 SPC Monthly Meeting Minutes

Mar 25, 2013 - 11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Location: City of Williams Lake

In attendance (from sign-in sheet): Ashlee Turatus, Leah Selk, Danica Hughes, Anne Burrill, Rosanna McGregor, Shannon Thom, Jay Goddard, Diana French, Jocelyn Wood and Jessica Knodel

Accept Mins & Agenda:

                                                                                                                                                   

Reviewed meeting minutes from Feb 25, 2013

Reviewed the agenda for Mar 25, 2013 meeting: Addition - Board Update

 

Board Update:

Update from the Board of Directors (Jay Goddard)

·         The Board is meeting again next on April 10^th (after a full cycle of subcommittee hosted meetings)

·         The new subcommittee structure is working well

·         The next presentation to City Council is scheduled for May 7^th

·         The Board will also review governance and the constitution - if any changes are recommended they will presented before the next AGM for consideration

 

Succession & Retention – open discussion

This is the first meeting hosted by the Succession & Retention committee. The committee presented points developed at the AGM, and opened it up for dialogue. The following are discussions which followed, and their committee recommendations.

AGM Points opened up for discussion:

Building Community Desirability,

Tap into resources & reach out,

Encourage engagement,

Education – build, encourage and promote,

Look at Mine development and it’s impact, and

Pressure City, Industry and Government to plan for and anticipate negative impacts.

Table Discussions focused on the following - see below: a) Increasing Community Desirability, b) Aging Professional Workforce, and c) Potential Impacts of a new Mine

a) Increasing Community Desirability

Arts & Culture is a desirable and attractive feature of a community.  Our area has much of this to offer, and this should be highlighted more to help recruit people to the area.

Reducing Crime – there is still a perception of Williams Lake as having a high crime rate. There were multiple comments on this – a) crime is quite visual and disturbing at times (e.g. people urinating publically, drinking in Boitanio Park), b) crime may be more visual in WL, but not necessarily higher than other communities where it is just more hidden &/or concentrated in areas where people just know to stay away from (e.g. Vancouver’s downtown east side), c) young people often get a bad reputation, without just cause.

Since the 1970’s the question “what do we do with street people” has been asked, and yet nothing has changed since then (same question being asked).

Another observation is that many seniors are choosing to move away, because although steps are being taken to address seniors issues, we are still along way from being senior friendly.

Lots of work and research on these topics has been completed by the City of Williams Lake, and is available for use:

For a copy of the City of Williams Lake Official Community Plan (OCP) visit http://www.williamslake.ca/index.asp?p=1933

Williams Lake Imagine our Future’s Integrated Community Sustainability Planning document (ICSP) is available at http://www.williamslake.ca/files/1/doc_OCP_Imagine%20Our%20Future%20ICSP%20Framework%20-%20Final.pdf

2011 Citizen Survey can be found online at http://www.williamslake.ca/files/1/doc_corp_2011_citizen_survey.pdf

Perceptions are not easily changed, but collaboratively at the community level work can be done to address this. People who are easiest to recruit to our area, are those who have lived here before and move back. The Fraser Basin Council is starting “Project Comeback” that will be investigating this population trend.

The Communities that Care (CTC) structure is great – it focuses on upstream prevention, but more downstream work needs to be done. It is unproductive to keep starting new initiatives over & over again that have not been proven to work (e.g. displacement rather than solutions). Quick fix solutions do not address the larger societal conditions that create problems in the first place. This is why community involvement with Social Planning is so important. Many Cities have been able to address similar problems by addressing the larger picture – can Williams Lake? Can these stop &go initiatives be made more effective with better community collaboration?

b) Aging Professional Workforce

“Silver Tsunami” – this succession and retention issue focus on people retiring without enough properly trained staff to take over. Examples - the Cariboo Friendship Society that will see five people retire over the next 5 years, when Interior Health tries to recruit new Doctors a common response is that it’s not safe to raise my family. There are many organizations facing this problem. A comprehensive study of baseline trends in this anticipated trend would greatly help the community plan for the future - Who will be retiring soon, Who will be their successors, What do we offer them, How do we keep and attract new professionals to our area?

Anne Burrill confirmed the Baby Boomers are starting to retire, and within 10 years this impact will be felt (still approximately ten years before the majority start retiring). There is also a negative growth rate in professionals aged 25 – 35. Our community is facing two factors: Mining impacts and Retirees. It also worth noting that mines often are recruiting from the foresty industry (leaving another gap).

Educational opportunities in our area are often “stunted” by low enrollment numbers that is predominately due to our size of population. This factor needs to be considered more when offering courses here – the minimum enrollment requirements should be lowered, and/or groups who want specialized training should pool their participants together to meet these minimums. There is also an expressed desire to have more flexibility (e.g. a few courses a year versus a full time two year program). This lack of professional development opportunities exemplifies the silver tsunami effect because potential successors are not able to get the additional training they require (e.g. a Management skills for Supervisors course by TRU requires 90 students to enroll!)

There is an academic priorities and opportunities committee starting soon at TRU in Kamloops called “Community You”. Jay Goddard will keep the SPC informed. TRU GRIT is another advisory body that at this time is currently raising funds (group of business professionals).  Jay will also be sharing SPC information with them, and an inclusive relationship is one priority.

It is also important to note that the younger generations (especially those in their 30s) would much rather choose employment for 20 hours a week over a full time (40 hrs a week) position. If more organizations offered this type of employment, more people would apply, and more jobs could be filled (2 employees versus 1 = more people employed).

c) Potential Mine Development

Dr. Glen Schmidt’s presentation in Williams Lake (co-hosted by the City of Williams Lake and the SPC) exemplified many potential impacts a mining boom can have on a community. For those who did not see his presentation, it was entitled "The Social Aspects of Rapid Economic Growth" and a .pdf of his accompanying powerpoint is available at:

http://www.unbc.ca/sites/default/files/assets/community_development_institute/speakers_series/social_effects_growth.pdf

It was suggested that City Planners become more involved with the Social Planning aspects of our community (via forecasting) – urban planning, economics and social well being are NOT mutually exclusive. They are inextricably linked with each other.

Housing will be a major concern, but currently the return on investment for rental housing is low, and social housing even lower.

Employment opportunities at mines offer much better pay, and benefits than social service organizations can, and as a consequence, many skilled workers needed in the social service fields are choosing to work at the mine for $40 versus $17 or less. This leaves significant gaps in services that our community needs – especially in times of great economic growth and population booms.

Taseko Mines has unofficially stated during the construction phase (2 years), the workforce of predominately young males will live on site. During the Operations stage, they have stated they will be encouraging the labourers (not the professionals) to work shifts (so more people live in Williams Lake, rather than onsite or in other parts of the world who travel in for their shifts and then leave to go home again.

Recommendations to the Board:

This large and broad topic needs to be studied and investigated more closely. The committee recommends that a research project be undertaken to narrow this topic down for applicatory use and recommendations for our community. The motion was moved.

Roundtable Updates:

Updates are shared via weekly updates. The information below is in addition to these updates.

Shannon Thom (Williams Lake Employment Services/ Horton Ventures)

Continue to send residents looking for employment, and job postings. The phone number is 250-398-5133, visit them online, or stop into the office located next to the Bowling Alley on 1^st Avenue).

Anne Burrill (City of Williams Lake)

The lunch and learn series (six week series teaching the Shuswap language that started Jan 25th) was a great success. The City may put this series on again next spring due to the high attendance and interest.  In this course, participants learned some basic Secwepemctsín (Shuswap language), and will developed an understanding and appreciation of the Northern Secwepemc history, governance structures, traditions, customs, membership and the  Treaty process.

St Josephs Commemoration Project (monument in Boitanio Park). A conference (also a follow up workshop with Dr. Brokenleg) will be held on May 16 – 17^th at TRU (press releases to follow). There will also be a Truth & Reconciliation meeting will be available over these two days.

Danica Hughes (Councillor, City of Williams Lake)

Danica visited The Food Growers Coop (Cariboo Growers) recently and was very impressed. Danica asked if the City could put a link on their website for this local food venue. Anne Burrill mentioned there have been lots of requests for this. This should be pursued.

It would be nice to see more single parent family connections &/or groups within our Community. Ashlee from the Women’s Contact Society will send some links, and starting new groups is always encouraged.

Leah Selk – Central Cariboo Arts & Culture Society (CCACS)

Currently the CCACS is completing grant delegations for 2013

The Diversity Forum in conjunction with the Fraser Basin Council and the Canadian Mental Health Association was very successful, and well attended.

Performances in the Park is taking submissions until May 3^rd. Again, this year there will be youth performances at the start of the evening’s entertainment line up.

Local Art Route (self guided tour) has eleven buildings booked – stay tuned for more information.

Art is your Business Conference is taking place on May 3 – 5^th. It is designed to help artists and creative business people to grow their business. This weekend event is composed of hands on workshops, discussion groups and lectures, and is being offered by Island Mountain Arts Society in partnership with the CCACS and the Station House Gallery. This conference is made possible with financial support from the Cariboo Chilcotin Beetle Action Coalition (CCBAC). For more information and to register please contact Island Mountain Arts at 1-800-442-2787 or email coordinator@imarts.com, or visit www.imarts.com. Leah mentioned that when this conference was held at Wells BC, they expected 20 people but 80 people registered. Reserve your spot today!

Ashlee Turatus – Women’s Contact Society (WCS)

The WCS hosted the 8^th annual International Womens Day. Gail Pilgrim gave a speech at the Library on Apr 16^th.

The Annual Children’s Festival in Boitanio is coming up on May 26^th – the WCS is looking for volunteers to help run this well attended and anticipated Sunday event.

Jocelyn Wood (Interior Health – Mental Health & Additions)

Mental Health & Addictions got accelerated funding for two positions to work with people, including the homeless who have severe mental issues but have no family doctor. For more information please visit the job posting on the interior health website.

Diana French (Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society CCCS)

The CCCS co-hosted Earth Day events at TRU on April 12^th. The free swim was well attended and the young students really enjoyed the underground aquifer demonstration tank.

Seniors Advisory Council update – Ross is chairing the Council for Audrey at this time.

Jay Goddard – Thompson Rivers University (TRU)

TRU is looking at blended delivery courses (4 at this time) in the social service area. Some of the course work will be face-to-face and some online. Regarding a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) and Addictions course – people want this course to be offered but there is not enough interest because of how the course is structured. Jay will send out a collaboration request to pursue this option further.

Meeting adjourned – the next meeting (Community Collaboration) will be held on Apr 22/13, from 11:30 am – 1 pm, location TBA.