I am sorry for not filing a report last time, but things have been far too busy and something had to go. Can't really say that it is much better now, but communication with you has to be a priority also!
The last three days have been typical of what I am talking about. All day Wednesday in Campbell River for Board meetings, then hopped a plane to Vancouver for a full day of UBCM meetings all day Thursday and then another late plane back to CR to spend the night so I could go to a 9:30 to 4:30 gruelling session in CR on the Budget and our Strategic Priorities. I also had to ask my alternate to fill in for me at the Solid Waste meeting and the Hospital Board meeting, on Thursday, while I was at the UBCM meetings in Vancouver. He did a great job! A number of my colleagues told me on Friday that he had no fear of tackling the tough topics that he and I had gone over in our briefings on the agendas before I left. So, thanks Dan and good work!
Regarding seniors issues, I am constantly on the lookout for opportunities to come up with ideas, people and money to help us bring about our dreams for a sustainable community in the Cove. They are out there, we just need to get them all in one place at one time. I am sure we will be hearing the results of the seniors housing survey in the near future. Hope everyone over 55 filled one out!
Also, in the past two weeks I have had my meetings with the BC Federal Conservative Caucus, the Chief of Staff for the Premier, the CEO of BCFS, and now on Monday I will be meeting, along with the Coastal Regional District Chairs Group, with the BCFS Commissioner in Victoria. The week after that, I will be going to the Legislature along with some people from Powell River that have been working on a petition to get BC Ferries back into the Ministry of Transportation. They have reached their goal of 20,000 signatures. It is going to be presented by an Independent MLA, Vicki Huntington, along with introductions, and a statement. I am sure there will be much media to follow. So stay tuned. An Independent MLA was chosen by the people working on the petition so that the Liberal government could not dismiss it as an "NDP", or "Green" initiative, which it is not. It is a people's petition. I am sure all parties will be present and get their chance to pitch in. Should be a great event and help to keep our issue alive.
Now that the schedule changes have been implemented, I hope that a bit of the pain has been relieved for some of the population at least. The schedule is a long way from perfect but it is better than what we have been putting up with. They are just going to have to change it again when we win our battle! So be patient and stay involved.
I have also been in touch with Telus in Victoria to get another update on our connectivity issues and specifically Granite Bay concerns. The word I have gotten back is that they are going to do a major upgrade to the ADSL service that surrounds Q. Cove and also upgrades to the technology in Granite Bay. Small steps, but better than nothing. We are still slated to get improvements overall as soon as they proceed with the CR improvements in the near future. And I thought Government moved slowly! Anyway, I will persist in my efforts to move this forward and I am pleased to announce that the Regional District has made "Connectivity" one of its main priorities for this year in our Strategic Priorities list that we developed yesterday. All of our Directors understand the importance of being able to communicate and with the power of the Board behind us, I think we will see a bit faster pace to this slow moving glacier!
Apparently my internet provider (Xplornet) is going to make some major changes on the 17th, so I hope that we don't run into any problems. That has got to be enough for this report due to the short time I have left to prepare for the upcoming meetings… I still have to write the statement to be presented in the Legislature regarding the petition and prepare for the meeting with the Commissioner. So, feel free to call me between the hours of 8:30 am and 7:00 pm, Monday through Friday (please, not on weekends, folks!) at 285-3355, or you can fax me at 285-3533 or you can email me anytime at jimabramxplornet.ca or by mail at Box 278 in the Cove, V0P 1N0… or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JimAbram…. If it is important, my cell is 250-830-8005… Lots of choices.