Attachment: Chair's Inaugural Speech - January 14, 2015

CRD Board Chair Nils Jensen Inaugural Speech January 14, 2015

Introduction

• Good afternoon. Welcome everyone to the first Capital Regional District Board meeting of 2015.
• Today marks the start of a new beginning for this Board and for the CRD. It is an honour and a privilege to serve as your Board Chair in what promises to be an exhilarating and challenging year.
• I would like to thank our outgoing Directors: Bryson, Cross, Daly, Fortin, Hill, Leonard, Mendum, Milne and Wergeland.
• There was a lot of hard work done in this room, committee rooms and in the community over the past term and I'm grateful for such a solid foundation to build on.
• I particularly want to recognize the dedicated leadership, during the last term of Board Chair Bryson and Board Vice-Chair Blackwell, on the Board, and for Director Blackwell’s work as Chair of the Core Area Liquid Waste Management Committee, succeeding Director Young. Thank you to all three of you for the energy and dedication you brought to your roles during what, at times, were very challenging times associated with high profile, complex issues. Not easy to handle – but you did it with confidence and dignity.
• Welcome to the returning directors, and welcome to the new faces around the table:
  • From North Saanich Director Finall who qualifies in both the new and returning face categories;
  • From Saanich Director Plant;
  • From Sidney Director Price;
  • From View Royal Director Screech;
  • From Sooke Director Tait;
  • From Highlands Director Williams; and
  • From Central Saanich Director Windsor.

Diversity and complexity of CRD

• The CRD is a large, diverse and complex area – we have over 370,000 residents living in 13 municipalities, 3 electoral areas and on many islands.
• The entire region, including ocean, is over 4,860 square kilometres.
• We have 30 Regional Parks, with over 6 million visits annually.
• The CRD provides over 200 services to a diverse variety of community groupings ranging from providing fresh water to the group of 13 municipalities, to arts management provided to a handful of communities, and providing planning services for one Electoral Area with four separate sub-area plans.
• We are grateful to Chief Administrative Officer Bob Lapham and his staff for keeping all those separate and distinct services running efficiently and effectively.
• As one can readily imagine, the accounting needed to apportion costs is incredibly complicated – we are grateful to the efforts of Financial Officer Diana Lokken for keeping the ledgers for such a complex organization.

I want to turn briefly to some of the challenges and opportunities we have before us for the coming year and beyond.

I turn first to Regional Cooperation - a priority identified in our 2012-2014 strategic plan.

• As you have heard me say before - I believe in the CRD. I believe that the CRD is a critical and essential element for our communities - one that is required to deliver many of the services we need, such as our regional water system.
• There are many things we simply cannot do as effectively or efficiently working as individual communities.
• Of course any organization can be better and we know that the CRD can be better, and it falls to each of us individually and collectively to make that happen.
• I believe that the best way we do that is by renewing our commitment to working together in an open and collaborative way.
• Regional Cooperation was set as an over-arching priority of the Board in the 2012-2014 strategic plan.
• This new term will see significant regional priorities that impact us all and call for continued cooperative work.
• We will, as in years past, face challenges in finding common ground between regional needs while balancing local interests.
• I know we are up to this task and that by aiming for the highest level of cooperation we can continue to build public trust and confidence in the CRD.

Turning now to some of the other priorities for the coming terms

Firstly Aboriginal Initiatives

• Regional cooperation extends to our neighbouring First Nations governments
• We continue to build bridges with regional First Nations and to make many in-roads in our own education, knowledge and understanding of local First Nations interests and aspirations.
• One example of how the CRD is doing this is the Westside Wastewater and Resource Recovery Select Committee where First Nations are a key part of the process.
• To promote ongoing collaboration, today I will propose the Board establish a Special Task Force on First Nations to meet with our neighbouring governments in the CRD to explore options for bringing local First Nations into the CRD governance framework. If the Board agrees, I will appoint three directors to carry out this important work.
• The Special Task Force will be expected to report back to the Governance Committee within the next year.
• I look forward to this new opportunity to find common ground with each unique nation and move towards reconciliation, mutual recognition and sharing of infrastructure and services.

Economic Development

• A strong economy means a strong Region.
• The CRD must make economic development a priority. We should look for partnerships to make the region a place where everyone can prosper.
• I will take on the role of working with the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, a very key player in the tourism, industrial and economic lifeblood of the region.
• I am very pleased that the wheels of economic development are also in motion elsewhere. Director Helps for instance is organizing a meeting for all mayors with a focus on economic development and bringing businesses and the communities together.
• An exciting possibility indeed.

Climate Change

• It is clear from the many recent dire reports that dealing with Climate Change will be THE challenge of humanity for this generation and many, many generations to come.
• The CRD has to redouble its efforts in this regard.
• Climate action will continue to be a focus for the CRD as we prepare for the impacts of tomorrow. Climate change is a complex, multi-year challenge.
• For more than a decade the CRD and its partners have been providing leadership on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change impacts and I look forward to continuing and increasing these efforts into the new term.

Moving to Committee Structure & Appointments

• Over the past few weeks, I have been in touch with each Director regarding your interest in serving on CRD committees.
• These committees will shape our priorities going forward.
• Committee work is essential to carrying out the many activities we undertake. There are many significant and exciting projects ahead for each committee this term.
• I am grateful for the enthusiasm of the Directors to pitch in and volunteer for these tasks.

Finance Committee

• I have asked Director Howe to Chair the Finance Committee with Director Ranns to be Vice-Chair.
• Building on our priority of economic development, the Finance Committee will make it a priority to achieve maximum value for local taxpayers' dollars and to work smartly with partner municipalities and other service providers.
• Transparency and building public trust and confidence in the work we do is also so important. Along these lines, the committee will focus on improving financial reporting, which includes regular reporting on organizational performance, capital projects, investments and reserves analytics.