Community Health Council Forum: October 26-27, 2007

This Forum is held annually by Peace Country Health (PCH) for members of the Community Health Councils (CHCs) and I was pleased to be able to attend on behalf of Peace River Town Council. This was the first year that municipal officials (other than those already active on the CHCs) were invited.

Community Health Councils are established and disestablished by regional health authorities, according to provincial legislation. The PCH website describes CHCs as working to: Provide advice to the Peace Country Health Board; facilitate two-way communication with the community; act as a forum for public input on health needs; and promote awareness of health resources, programs and services. More information on PCH CHCs can be found at: http://www.pchr.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=744

The forum included representatives from CHCs from Peace River as well as Grimshaw, Manning, Smoky River, Worsley, Sexsmith, Beaverlodge, Hythe, Fox Creek, Grande Cache, Tri-Settlement (Gift Lake, Peavine and East Prairie), High Prairie, and Central Peace. There are also CHCs in Fairview and Faust but there were no representatives at the Forum.

TRADE FAIR AND CHC UPDATES

Following the afternoon Trade Fair, with displays by community organizations and PCH programs and services, there was a dinner and welcoming remarks from Peace Country Health Board Chair Marvin Moore. Following this, verbal reports were given by CHC representatives, with the level of activity for councils varying. Julie Gour reported on behalf of the Peace River CHC, which has a fairly low level of activity and is experiencing difficulties recruiting members.

PEACE COUNTRY HEALTH UPDATE

On Friday night and Saturday there were updates on PCH activities in areas such as workforce recruitment and retention, funding, deficit-combating initiatives, capital planning, strategic planning, primary health network development in the region and the upcoming year.

PEACE COUNTRY REGIONAL HEALTH CENTRE

We also received a detailed update on the new Peace Country Regional Health Centre, which will be constructed just outside Grande Prairie and be designed to serve the whole region. The QEII Hospital will be renovated to accommodate administration and community-based programs. PCH is currently working with architects on the design of the new facility and there have been a number of public and professional consultations, with more planned. See the link below for the PowerPoint presentation.

PRESENTATIONS: Seniors Falls Skit (Beaverlodge CHC) and Living Well

Members of the Beaverlodge CHC did an entertaining skit on falls and PCH staff presented information on healthy living.

PANEL: INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPACT ON HEALTH

The afternoon panel featured five experts who provided different perspectives on how industrial development affects human health. Speakers included:

• Dr. Albert de Villiers, Peace Country Health Medical Officer of Health.
• Jim Meagher, Peace Country Health’s Director of Environmental Public Health and a co-founder of the Peace Air Shed Zone Association.
• Dr. Warren Kindzierski, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Services in the University of Alberta School of Public Health.
• Dr. Stephan Gabos, Senior Science Advisor, Surveillance and Environmental Health, Public Health Division in Alberta Health & Wellness.
• Douglas Haines, Manager of the Environmental Health Surveillance Division in Health Canada’s Safe Environments Programme (Ottawa).

The PowerPoint presentation for each speaker as well as the PC Regional Health Centre update and the Living Well presentation are available at:

http://www.pchr.ca/AboutUs/CommunityHealthCouncils/tabid/744/Default.aspx

Swearing in and first Council meeting

Monday was the first formal get-together for the new mayor and Council. At 5:00, we gathered in Council Chambers, before the public portion of the meeting, to get settled into the spot where we'll sit for the next three years and to learn how to use the computer at that station.

Once we were settled into our new spots, Mayor Callioux welcomed us with a few remarks. Then Kelly Bunn, CAO (Chief Administrative Officer), did a PowerPoint presentation on the realities of life as a councillor. This is a presentation he has done with each new Council since joining the Town of Peace River. The main points that I took away, which are consistent with what I have learned from board development workshops, were:

• the CAO is the only employee of Council. All Town staff report to and are directed by the CAO, therefore Council members may not direct staff but may make issues or concerns known to the CAO. This keeps the lines of responsibility and accountability clear and avoids the confusion that could arise if a staff member was receiving instructions or requests from a councillor and the CAO.
• Council sets the direction of the Town through policy that is articulated by resolutions/motions.
• We're not expected to agree all the time, but to come to decisions through respectful discussion and debate. An effective Council is more likely to result if we all listen well to the points of views of others as well as express our own.

We delayed the selection of the various committees and boards that we'll participate on until we've had more time to consider the options.

Berry Heinen was appointed Deputy Mayor for one year, with the full support of Council, based on his receiving the highest number of votes in the election. Next year Council will nominate and elect the Deputy Mayor.

At 6:00, which was the start of the public portion of the meeting, we were joined by the media and sworn in/affirmed by Judge Rick McIntosh, who also offered remarks on the responsibilities we have undertaken.

Mayor Callioux effectively guided the meeting and we worked our way through a fairly lengthy agenda. I was impressed with the level of discussion and thoughtful questions and comments. The CAO and experienced council members answered questions and provided background, which certainly helped me, as a newcomer, to feel comfortable.

Following the public portion of the meeting, we moved in camera for discussion about a personnel issue, and then back out in order to make a motion.

I'm grateful for the board experience I had before being elected to Town Council, which enabled me to feel less overwhelmed than I might otherwise have been, and I enjoyed this first meeting. We next meet on Monday, November 5, for a planning session (this is not open to the public), and the following week is our second Council meeting.

Getting Right Into It!

With the election over, we are now getting right into our new role. On Friday we picked up our Town Council orientation binders and on Saturday the new mayor and council attended the Chamber of Commerce Davis Awards on Saturday night--our first public event since being elected. It felt a little odd to be a local "celebrity" all of a sudden! The evening was a lot of fun and I was very impressed with the talents of the local residents who did such a great job of bringing a Grammy Awards feel to the evening.

Tonight the serious stuff starts--we'll learn how to use the computers in the Council Chambers, and then get sworn in before participating in our first council meeting. The agenda and supporting documents are available on the Town's website at: http://www.peaceriver.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={18E34156-0336-40DA-8043-979F6075210E}

On Friday, November 2, we will attend a full-day orientation session done by Alberta Municipal Affairs in Grimshaw on "Relationships, Roles and Responsibilities." This will give us a great opportunity to meet other new councillors in the region along with receiving training in our new role.

Later in November (28-30), we'll attend the AUMA (Alberta Urban Municipalities Association) annual convention and AMSC Trade Show in Calgary. New councillors can attend a full day session on Wednesday called "So I've Been Elected, Now What Do I Do?" I'm looking forward to meeting new councillors from all over Alberta and learning more about this new job I've taken on.

Sessions on Thursday include a wide variety topics that I'm interested in. We can choose from sessions on sustainable community infrastructure, partnering, risk assessment, reducing energy costs, climate change adaptation, a small communities symposium and increasing women's participation in municipal government.

On Friday, we can choose from sessions on regional challenges, sustaining the land resource, the Rural Alberta Development Fund, working effectively with Aboriginal groups, affordable housing, and being a good councillor. The full program can be viewed on the AUMA website at: http://www.auma.ab.ca/live/MuniLink/Convention/2007+Convention

Blog Action Day Results

The results of the 2007 Blog Action Day on the environment are available at this website: http://blogactionday.org/ Bloggers registered for the day and Technorati tracked the action.

Be sure to check out the graph showing the impact on the blogosphere for Monday--impressive!

Here are some of the stats:

• 20,603 Blogs Participated
• 23,327 Blog Posts
• 14,631,038 RSS Readers (this indicates only a small number of readers)

You can see links to a variety of blogs that participated in the Action Day on this website's October 15 entry: http://www.blogger.com/home

Election Results

What a rookie blogger mistake--in all the excitement of the election on Monday, I forgot to post the results here yesterday!

Iris Callioux defeated incumbent Lorne Mann, bringing a new era to Peace River Town Council as (if I have my history correct) the first woman mayor. Congratulations on an effective and hard-fought campaign!

I'm thrilled to be among the new councillors, who also include Berry Heinen, Jim Hancock and Wanda Laurin. The new Council is fortunate to also have depth of experience with the return of incumbents Don Good and Neil Martin as well as the experience on another council that Jim Hancock brings.

Voters appear to have measured the successes of the former Council and Mayor against what they hope for the future, which includes more openness in how Council conducts its business and attention to issues that go beyond (as well as include) economic development. I think the next three years are going to be exciting and challenging.

Many thanks to those who won't be returning to Council--Lorne Mann, Geoff Milligan, Tom Day, and Gordon Troup. Their commitment to the Town over their past years of service is much appreciated. I hope that once they've had a chance to overcome their disappointment at not being re-elected they will find ways to enjoy having more free time or find exciting new opportunities for their experience and energy.

For the new Mayor and Council, the next weeks and months will mean a huge learning curve, starting on Monday with our first meeting and swearing in. Whew--what have we got ourselves into? Stay tuned!

Blog Action Day: The Environment

Today (Monday, October 15) is Blog Action Day. The website asks bloggers to unite on one issue--the environment. Blog Action Day is about mass participation.

I decided to take a look at a resource I've had for awhile--Community Energy Workbook: A Guide to Building a Sustainable Economy (1995) from the Rocky Mountain Institute (http://www.rmi.org/.

The book provides a blueprint for helping a community to identify ways it can reduce energy consumption while building sustainability into its economy. Although the book seems to be mostly geared towards larger urban areas, I'm sure there are ways we could adapt for a smaller town like Peace River.

The book talks about the characteristics of communities that have led in finding ways to improve their economies through energy planning. These include:

• Widespread awareness of energy alternatives
• Incentives to change
• Community and political support
• Strong local leadership
• Ability to mobilize resources
• An effective organization to carry the effort on, year after year

Could we find ways to develop the characteristics listed above? Perhaps a new Town Council with a commitment to community consultation and mobilization can begin to move us in that direction. And as citizens, we can encourage our local politicians to see energy sustainability as an issue worth working on.

Meeting People

I had the pleasure today of wandering around my neighbourhood, talking with people about my candidacy. It's shocking to discover how few of them I've ever met despite living near one another for years.

What helps people get to know each other? Kids can be a catalyst for stopping to talk as can pets. But if you don't have kids or animals, how do you meet people in the neighbourhood, or get past simply saying "hello" and then going back to our busy lives?

Maybe the Town could find a way to encourage block parties or other ways of creating a sense of neighbourhood. Something to think about ...

Election Forum

How exciting to have been through my first forum, as a candidate, and to have such great responses from people about my speech and platform.

There was a pretty good turnout, although I had hoped there would be standing room only. Maybe a bit optimistic, but with around 275+ people, it was a pretty good turnout.

I was impressed with the thought that had gone into many of the speeches (5 minutes for mayoralty candidates and 3 minutes for the councillor candidates). Unfortunately, some gratuitously nasty comments by the current mayor seriously detracted from the evening for me.

There seemed to be some continuity among candidates in the desire to see more planning and public consultation, although SAYING you want it and actually getting it done are two different things. Public engagement is an important part of my vision for identifying future direction and I'm committed to doing my best to getting it done, whether or not I'm elected.

There were a number of thought-provoking questions during the Q&A and many people stayed afterwards to talk to candidates and others. I had a chance to speak with many people, including some I didn't already know, so that was a rewarding part of the evening.

Onward to Monday's vote!

Election Forum Tonight

Tonight's the BIG night--the election forum at the Sawridge Hotel at 6:00. There could be a large crowd if the conversations I've been having with people are any indication.

It's very good for a community when there is discussion around issues and often an election is what really gets people talking (an election and oh, perhaps a proposed nuclear power plant...).

Without this community discussion, citizens and politicians alike can get too complacent. Many people have told me that it's nice to have a choice in candidates and that they think it will be good to have some new faces on Council. We'll know next week whether I'm one of those new faces!

Issues I'm hearing about include:

• Town Council accountability and transparency
• Regional cooperation
  
• Citizen involvement in planning and visioning
• Energy policy
  
• Maintaining/improving quality of life along with economic development
• The health of the downtown area as development moves to the West Hill
  
• Housing and social concerns like poverty and safety.

Vibrant Communities/Poverty

This morning I visited the Tamarack: An Institute for Community Engagement website (http://tamarackcommunity.ca/g2.php) for information on Stand Up Against Poverty events around the world on October 17, which has been recognized since 1992 by the United Nations as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty . You can see the list of Canadian events at: http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/events/ca

Also on the Tamarack website is information about the Vibrant Communities initiative. Although there are no small towns involved, I wonder if we couldn't learn from the work being done in large urban centres? Edmonton and Calgary are involved as "Trail Blazer" communities so we have role models close by.

Vibrant Communities is described as "a community-driven effort to reduce poverty in Canada by creating partnerships that make use of our most valuable assets – people, organizations, businesses and governments. It’s a unique approach to poverty reduction that allows communities to learn from — and help — each other."

If you want to learn more, here's the URL: http://tamarackcommunity.ca/g2s1.html

The Poverty Action Committee is a small group of people in Peace River working on the issue , but they can't do it alone. What else could we be doing, as a community, to tackle poverty in our midst? Is there a role for Town Council?

Nuclear Power

Last Saturday night Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (http://www.ccnr.org/) kept a large crowd at the Catholic Conference Centre spellbound as he described the history of atomic energy, explained how nuclear power plants work, outlined concerns about uranium production, radiation, waste storage and disposal, and then answered questions and responded to comments.

Most people stayed until he finished speaking at 11:00 and there was a line-up to talk with him afterwards. The next morning, there were around 100 people at the pancake breakfast in Grimshaw and the discussion was apparently again lively.

People in the area are taking advantage of opportunities to learn about the issue from the variety of options, such as Energy Alberta's open houses, sessions put on by the Peace River Environmental Society, and, judging by comments made on Saturday, extensive use of resources available online.

Nuclear power is a rather large departure from the way Alberta currently generates electricity. Where is the provincial government in this discussion with public education and consultation and a full debate in the legislature? Where is the evidence that we actually need to generate this power? What effort has the province taken to reduce demand for electricity? Has enough help been given to alternative technologies? I have many questions!