OPINION

“The city should do something about that.”

That is what a lot of people say to myself and other members of City of Kamloops council on a regular basis.

By “the city,” they sometimes mean the staff of the organization, but often they mean city council.

This column is not about what “the city” should do, but how the City of Kamloops works with so many other organizations to deliver services to our community members.

Take for example policing.

The City of Kamloops does not provide policing, but rather policing is contracted to the RCMP, which is directed by its own organization in Ottawa in terms of its priorities for policing in Kamloops, be it dealing with gangs, domestic violence or drug offences.

What the city does is provide the building and the money for wages and operations.

That does not mean that Kamloops’ top cop, Supt. Jeff Pelley, doesn’t listen to city council, but it means council cannot tell the local police detachment what to do. Rather, it is a matter of influence and dialogue.

For example, council pushed hard and funded a second Car 40 pairing a police officer with a psychiatric nurse. It also developed the Community Service Officer program in collaboration with the RCMP. The CSO program takes over some of the street disorder issues such as monitoring homeless encampments and responding to street disorder so the RCMP can focus on other issues such as weapons, assaults and vehicle incidents.

Another partnership that is strong in Kamloops is arts and culture. The City of Kamloops is not in the business of music and theatre, but council annually approves $660,000 to support the ongoing work of the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, Western Canada Theatre and Kamloops Art Gallery. Council doesn’t create arts and culture in Kamloops, but we strongly support its ongoing vibrancy.

In the same way, the city does not run sports tournaments, but council approves every bid of every major event that the city is a part of from the Memorial Cup, to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, to seniors games and on so on. The host committees organize events, while the municipality provides venues, expertise and funding.

One of the best examples of the city’s expertise was during the 2022 U Sports Men’s Soccer Championship. A dump of snow fell on the Hillside Stadium soccer field just before the start of the games. Without losing a beat, city staff removed the snow and dried out the pitch to an excellent condition.

Partnerships with the provincial government and non-profit agencies are important too.

Recently, councillors Dale Bass, Kelly Hall and I, along with staff members met with a representative with Canadian Mental Health Association BC Division to assess Kamloops as a possible site for the provincially-funded Peer Assisted Care Team program.

Last week, the provincial government announced that

Kamloops was chosen over many other cities for the program.

City council does not provide health care, but being supportive and open to new programs means Kamloops is selected for new opportunities.

Kamloops city council should definitely be doing something about many things. But in many cases, from policing, to arts and culture, from sports, to mental health, what the city should be doing is working collaboratively with other organizations.

The city should do something about issues in Kamloops.

Time and again, “doing something” is building strong relationships with others, supporting the work of others and advocating strongly.

That is why advocacy is one of five priorities of this city council’s strategic plan.

Our priorities include: advocating for justice reform, seniors’ supports, fire mitigation, family doctors and more.

Council will advocate with other levels of government on all these issues.

As deputy mayor for the month of July, I am looking forward to more collaborations with many different organizations. But I’m hoping that one we don’t have to collaborate with too much this month, is the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).

The city and BCWS have a very strong relationship, but I’m hoping the fires stay away and we don’t have to test out the partnership too much this summer.

Enjoy the summer and stay fire smart.

Nancy Bepple is a Kamloops city councillor and is acting mayor for the month of July.