B.C. government proposes changes to provincial acts in order to revoke resort municipality’s letters patent
By Steve Hubrecht
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The provincial government tabled legislation last week that, if passed, will formally dissolve Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality.
The municipality was incorporated back in 2013 to put planning and design policy in place for the proposed Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort. Debate around the proposed resort had swirled since it was first proposed in early 1990s and only came to an end a year ago, when the federal government announced it had given money to the Ktunaxa First Nation to buy out existing land tenures in the area where the resort was proposed, and instead create an Indigenous Protected and Conservation Area (ICPA) there.
For the past 22 months, however, the municipality has continued to exist on paper while the provincial government wended its way through the bureaucratic hoops and paperwork necessary to disincorporate a municipality. The Pioneer reported in its Sept. 1 issue that disincorporation was likely to come this fall, as by late August, the municipality only had a single asset — a bridge — left on its books and efforts were underway to transfer ownership of this bridge to the provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD).
On Tuesday, Oct. 26, the ministry announced the pending legislation in a press release, noting that as the resort is not proceeding “and Jumbo does not have residents to request dissolution as required under existing legislation, the proposed amendments are required to disincorporate the municipality.”
The government is proposing to change the Local Government Act and the Municipalities Enabling and Validating Act in order to create a new, specific regulatory authority that will allow the province to dissolve Jumbo by revoking its letters patent. The changes will also give the provincial government authority to address any administrative matters stemming from the dissolution.
“The amendments will also withdraw the authority to incorporate a mountain resort municipality without residents in the future,” said the ministry.
Although it was never physically built, there has been one mayor and two councillors of Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality for the eight years it has existed. Radium Hot Springs hosted Jumbo council meetings, and Radium village staff did double duty as Jumbo municipal staff.
Jumbo mayor, Greg Deck, told the Pioneer that the legislation and the pending dissolution is simply the logical next step in a process that’s been underway for nearly two years.
“This really is just a housekeeping item, making sure the file is completed,” said Deck. “This was effectively over almost two years ago.”
