Regional District of Nanaimo directors are hoping their Vancouver Island peers support better funding for victim service programs and hazardous property remediation.
Directors approved a pair of resolutions that will be forwarded to the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities conference in Campbell River in April for consideration by delegates.
One motion seeks full victim service funding from the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety.
Bill Veenhof, RDN board chairman, said there are various victims’ services functions within the regional district and funding and RCMP personnel to do the function have been lost.
“Before victim services, the RCMP were doing it for the most part, but they’ve lost their ability to do it and it’s downloading, so any support the province can give to victim services is awesome,” said Veenhof.
The other resolution requests the province honour any outstanding charges or liens on a property as a result of hazardous cleanup or environmental remediation.
Veenhof said property owners are billed by the RDN if such work is undertaken and a covenant can be registered against the property if payment is not made, but the money goes to the province.
“It has been challenging, not in all cases … getting those monies for remediation and I guess more to the point, if the property doesn’t get sold for 20 years, nobody’s paying the money, so we’re left holding the bag,” said Veenhof.
It is an effort to hopefully streamline the process, Veenhof said.
The motions still need to be approved at the regular meeting level. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Jan. 24.
