The city's Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs passed two motions at its Tuesday, May 6 meeting advancing its advocacy on getting the provincial government to help pay for the cost of medical calls responded to by Prince George Fire Rescue.
The committee has been discussing the cost of municipally run emergency services responding to medical call when they are a responsibility of the province for several years.
At the committee’s last meeting on April 1, staff told members that there are no mechanisms in place to determine exact costs incurred by Prince George Fire Rescue while responding to a medical event, but some estimates could be developed.
At the May 6 meeting, committee members discussed whether they wanted to continue to advocate on the file by pursuing negotiations with the province and advancing a resolution to be discussed at the Union of BC Municipalities’ 2025 annual general meeting.
Coun. Kyle Sampson advocated for the city to continue to pursue the matter, saying that he’s said for years that the city is backstopping provincial ambulance services due to inadequate service levels caused by a lack of funding by the government.
He proposed two motions on the matter, both of which passed unanimously.
The first recommended that city council authorize administration and the committee to negotiate an agreement with the province “to formally recognize and support the interim role of Prince George Fire Rescue in responding to medical-related calls, including appropriate cost considerations and operational terms.”
The second asked for council to approve the submission of a resolution to the UBCM calling on the province “increase funding, staffing, and resources for BCEHS (BC Ambulance Service), to ensure the province fulfills its responsibilities for emergency health care delivery and reduces reliance on municipal first responders.”
With a June 15 deadline to submit resolutions for the UBCM, the committee discussed needing to get a draft resolution prepared in time to be considered at the May 26 city council meeting.
Committee chair Coun. Garth Frizzell said he would be available most days for a session to go over potential resolutions ahead of the agenda deadline for the next council meeting.
Coun. Brian Skakun brought up a January story by The Citizen in which CUPE Local 873 discussed challenged posed by a lack of paramedics in Northern BC and the Central Interior. He suggested that the union be contacted for feedback on the committee’s advocacy.
Rural road update
Next on the agenda, the committee unanimously passed a motion recommending that council submit a letter of support to the provincial government for the rebuilding of the rural road between Quesnel and Hixon.
The road was washed out and closed after a landslide in 2021. Last year, the provincial government announced that a 400-metre portion of this road as well as the Cottonwood River Canyon Bridge would be permanently closed due to the estimated cost of rebuilding them.
The Quesnel Hixon Road Restoration Association sent a letter to council earlier this year asking for the city to support their advocacy for the road to be reopened.
Coun. Susan Scott said she was in favour of sending a letter of support because the route can be used to transport goods to and from Prince George.
The committee briefly discussed whether the city should consider rejoining the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway Association, which is made up of municipalities and organizations located along Highway 16 across BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well as along Highway 5 in BC.
Prince George was formerly a member but left in 2012. Membership fees are decided on a per-capita basis and would have cost the city around $15,000 a year to join.
Ultimately, the four members of the committee decided there wasn’t a business case and passed a motion recommending to city council not to rejoin the group.
Delegation to Victoria
Last week, Scott, Frizzell and Sampson as well as representatives from administration were part of a Prince George delegation to Victoria to meet with government and opposition MLAs.
At the committee meeting, Frizzell singled out a meeting with the three Prince George-area Conservative MLAs, Rosalyn Bird, Sheldon Clare and Kiel Giddens. The members passed a motion asking staff to arrange a follow-up call with the MLAs to go over the results of the delegation.
They also discussed the possibility of bringing representatives from other organizations like the University of Northern BC, Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, the College of New Caledonia and the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George along on next year’s delegation.
