In 2021, it was discovered that the Economic Development Funding through which the PRRD was funding the Geopark and the Museum was not actually valid, which resulted in the PRRD withdrawing funding from both these organizations.
This left both organizations with rather large funding shortfalls over the last two years, which the District has had to cover a large portion of.
The PRRD is in the process of creating a new service function for funding the Tumbler Ridge Geopark and Tumbler Ridge Museum. In order to create a new service function, a new bylaw must be created.
The first readings of those bylaws occurred on February 24; the good news is that both bylaws passed their first two readings, though not without some opposition.
Area E Director Dan Rose says that he opposes the two separate functions, but would support it if the two functions were combined. “We’ve asked for years for these two organizations to get together, so I think this is premature,” says Rose. “I think once those are ironed out, and we create one function, then I’m good. We need that dealt with before moving ahead.”
Not true, says Taylor Mayor Rob Fraser. “We never asked them to amalgamate. That was their decision to do.” He says that, while the two groups are moving forward with discussions, that should not affect the regional district’s support. “The funding [promised] was never dependant on if they amalgamated. We can have our ideas about what they should do, but we never requested that they do it. To their own credit, they are moving forward with it, and they can determine themselves what to do.”
Fraser says the museum and the geopark are more than just assets to the District of Tumbler Ridge. “They’re more than just assets to the region, too. These are provincially and even globally recognized operations and opportunities. If we’re not going to do Economic Development in a regional way, it falls to these types of service functions to support regionally recognized opportunities like this. Taylor is behind the Geopark and the museum in Tumbler Ridge; we’ve committed funds there in absence of any way to fund it at a regional level because we believe it’s important to the future of Taylor. Yes, from an economic development perspective, but we also have people who use that park. But it’s not just about use. It’s from a perspective of how this region will be recognized: provincially, federally and worldwide. We think these have the potential to do that, and we believe support for both these is important.”
Mayor Bertrand says these organizations need help. “We can’t do it alone. We need the PRRD’s help. Unfortunately, we have left these two groups in the wind over the last two years. This is secured funding that will not only help the Geopark and museum to continue, but to survive. This is absolutely a regional asset, that I think we all need to support. I’m very disappointed that the Federal and Provincial governments have left it to us to foster these organizations. It’s not only a regional asset, but a provincial asset. The worldwide marketing ability with the Geopark is tremendous. The exposure opportunities for the Geopark is incredible.”
Rose says that it’s his job to make sure the tax payer’s money is looked after and well spent. “I don’t think we have the information or things that we’ve asked for in the past solved to move forward.”
Fraser says that these organizations have been good stewards of the money given. “They have created fantastic opportunities for the residents of this region, this province and this country. There are trails, there are displays, there is the paleontological work they do to put science forward. If we are looking for more oversight, then let’s talk about what that looks moving forward as part of this service function, but let’s not assume that our money has not been taken care of, or that there is some requirement we have placed upon them. We haven’t.”
But while the Regional District is in support of these bylaws moving forward, they weren’t in support of a motion put on the floor by Mayor Bertrand.
He recommended the Regional District use the Alternate Approval Process (AAP) to vote on the motion. The AAP would involve notifying residents through ads of the proposed service, the financial implications and give people thirty days after the second notice to provide written objection to the service being established without holding an assent voting process. If less than ten percent of the voting public disagrees, it would pass. If not, the matter will be moved to referendum which will be held in conjunction with the October 15, 2022 general local government elections.
Bertrand supported the AAP, as the deadline for establishing the process for 2023 is October 1, two weeks before the election.
“We’ve left these organizations in the wind for two years,” says Bertrand. “We’ve supported them to the tune of $660,000 for five or six years, then all of a sudden, nothing. It is absolutely incredible they’ve been able to continue. If we don’t make the October 1 deadline, that means the function could not take hold until 2024, which puts uncertainty in this organization’s ability to continue.”
Mayor Fraser was in support of the motion. “All of us have put money into this in the past,” he says. “It’s a very small amount; $0.01/per thousand. If you had a house worth half a million dollars, it would be $5. People who would be opposed to the levy would come forward. I think the AAP will drive those people to submit their concern. I believe this is an adequate process to gain the permission of the electorate.
However, the majority of the board does not support the AAP. Director Rose says he’s opposed, ideologically. “I don’t think the AAP is a good way to gauge the mood of the electorate, especially during an election year, when there is the opportunity to get a survey of how people think about it,” he says. “I don’t think it’s a reason to subvert what I believe is the only proper way to obtain electoral approval, which is by assent voting.”
Director Leonard Heibert agrees. “This is something we want the electors understand. A lot of them don’t understand the AAP; if we put it out before the election, it will be hard to draw them out twice. For me, I’d prefer it is done through ballot at the voting station. I agree there are ways to find grants to get them through the next year.
Bertrand says the AAP was used just last year, and it worked well. “This is unfinished business for us as a board. I don’t like the idea of pushing it off to the election. I think having three new functions at the election is going to be misinterpreted as taxes are going to be sky high now. This is a clean-up of the economic development function that blew up, and I’d like to get this done before the election.”
Fort St. John mayor Lori Ackerman says she supports the function. “We agree with this. What we don’t agree with is the process. The AAP is a negative vote. The ascent voting process is a positive approach. We support these things. I want the region to say it as well. I wonder what democracy means when we take these alternative approaches that don’t have to be taken. We use the geopark as a tool for recruiting professionals, we use it to teach our kids geoscience. But I believe that the voters need the opportunities to vote on it, and we have the election coming up.”
The motion to move it to the AAP was defeated, meaning the bylaws will go to a referendum on the 2022 Local Government Election, scheduled for October 15. If the motions passes, regional district funding will be available in 2024.
Museum Executive Director Zena Conlin says the news is mixed. “For them to move the process forward and establish service functions for us is great news. It’s fantastic news. Going through the ascent process instead of the AAP? That’s disappointing. That means we won’t get funding until 2024, which puts us in a precarious situation. But at least we have concrete things we can work with now.”
In 2020, the museum received $110,000 from the Regional District, which was the last money they received. “That was when the pandemic hit, and there were all sorts of other opportunities and cost savings to stretch that funding,” says Conlin.
But two years in, that funding is running out. “ We are running into capacity issues,” says Conlin. “We have a lot of project money coming in, but I don’t have the human resource capacity issues. That’s where those operational funds from the PRRD help us.”
She says having money to pay staff is the big issue at the moment. “I’ve identified a couple orgnizations where we can go for operational funds, but to be eligible, you need to have completed a certain number of projects, funded by that organization.”
She says it becomes a Catch-22 situation. There is funding available, but the museum doesn’t have the money to pay people to do those projects. “In three years maybe, but I can’t do it with the human resources we have at the moment.”
Conlin says there are big things afoot for the museum, but it’s hard to work on those things, when they need to put so much effort into managing the day to day operations of the museum.
For example, she says the Museum and the Geopark are still having discussions about amalgamating. “It’s a big important decision that needs to be made, but there are a million other important decisions that need to be made, too. There are all these day to day, imminent things that take priority.”
And even if the two organizations do join up, the amount of money they would need would stay the same. “We would still operate as two institutions,” she says. “The museum and the geopark still need to operate independent. Our funding won’t be any less. The museum still needs to operate as a museum.”
She says the museum is still pursuing a new, purpose built building, but says that is at least five to seven years away. “We are trying to grow our museum. We want to be able to offer programing all the time. We want to be active in education and delivering those services. All of that requires staff, which is operational funding.”
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
