Ian Morrison, the Cowichan Valley Regional District director for Area F (Cowichan Lake South/Skutz Falls) is the new president of the Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities.
Morrison was installed with the rest of the AVICC executive during a virtual annual general meeting on Sept. 22, held during the Union of British Columbia Municipalities convention.
The AVICC usually has a convention of its own each spring, but this year’s was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic before going entirely electronic.
The AVICC is an association of area municipalities, and the annual conference is held to discuss issues brought up by local governments and some First Nations that then feed into debate and resolutions at the UBCM conference. Unlike the UBCM, which gets its charter from the provincial government, the AVICC falls under the societies act.
Nominations for the current executive were initially made ahead of the AVICC’s original time slot on April, then reopened in July. Most nominees were unopposed, including Morrison, who served as first vice president on the previous executive, and second vice president the year before that.
Morrison will have a number of duties as president of the AVICC, some of which will differ from previous years because of the pandemic.
“One of the roles pre-COVID was dialogue and communicate with other area associations,” he explained. “We will continue to connect and liaise electronically.”
He will also serve as a link between the municipalities and First Nations in the AVICC and the province.
“My role is to solicit and hear concerns of member organizations and to do some advocacy with the provincial government at a more specific level.”
The AVICC executive will hold regular virtual meetings and will plan for a convention next year. In part because of COVID-19, the term has not been determined yet.
“It could be seven months. It could be 12 months. It could be 24 months,” Morrison said. “I think I’m up for it.”
