Multiple times a month, a group of representatives from across the Sea-to-Sky corridor meet in a small building in Pemberton. The building lies at the approximate geographic centre of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD).
Regional districts are unique to British Columbia.This form of local government hovers between the provincial government and municipalities, Treaty First Nations and unincorporated communities like Britannia Beach or Birken.
“Anywhere that a municipality doesn't have a boundary, the residents in those areas still need services and access to care and emergency response,” said SLRD Board chair Jen Ford. “That's why regional districts exist.”
The Canadian Constitution sets out certain responsibilities for federal and provincial/territorial governments. Issue areas like national defence and foreign policy are federal jurisdiction, whereas education, hospitals and property are under the purview of a province or territory.
The division of responsibilities is less clear for regional districts. Powers and responsibilities are enumerated in the provincial Local Government Act and Community Charter, but these documents don't prescribe which services must be delivered.
“Regional districts can give any service that the voters want—within reason,” said Ford. “So not every area has water [service], not every area has garbage, not every area has access to parks and trails. All of those are services that apply in our district, but maybe not another.”
The SLRD covers 16,500 square kilometres. While most of that area is uninhabited, 50,496 people live within its boundaries, as of the 2021 census. It’s a complex area with a wide array of policy needs, as exemplified by its unique topography.
“We have all of the different land forms in our regional district,” noted Ford. “ We've got deserts, we've got mountains, we've got volcanoes, we've got ocean front, we've got glaciers, we've got it all.”
The unique needs of the area coupled with a relatively low number of representatives for those unincorporated communities, necessitate public input and engagement to keep the SLRD informed and moving in the right direction.
"There's just one person elected to cover all of Area A, which is Gun Lake, Bralorne, all the way up the Bridge River Valley, which is a large territory to cover,” said Ford. “The areas that we represent are huge, and so understanding the needs of all those areas is really important.”
Get engaged
Ford said that, while staff are impressed as to how many people are tuning into meetings, or writing or calling in to share concerns, there are still additional opportunities for residents to get engaged and make a difference in the SLRD. She cited the Area B and C Agricultural Advisory Committees (AAC) as a key space for residents to get involved.
“Those committees actually have big decisions around farming, land protection, land use, that sort of thing, that when it comes to the board, we actually refer it to those committees to get that local expertise, and then they make recommendations back to our board,” said Ford. “So that's a really important one from a farming and food security perspective.”
At the end of each year, applications are accepted from residents interested in serving on the SLRD Electoral Area B and C AAC. The minimum qualifications—notably, living in the relevant electoral area and being from the farming and ranching community—can be found on the SLRD’s website.
Outside of serving on an AAC, the SLRD frequently solicits feedback from the public in the form of surveys, town halls and public hearings—despite recent changes to provincial legislation that require fewer public hearings for new developments. Opportunities to engage can be found on the SLRD’s Get Involved portal.
“There’s lots of ways to engage, but it's definitely low key. It's not flashy, and I think that's a good thing," said Ford. "But we always welcome better feedback and better input and certainly encourage getting people involved.”
The SLRD is governed by an 11-member board, comprised of seven municipal directors and four electoral area directors for the spaces outside Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton and Lillooet. Elections for electoral areas are held every four years.
Ford encourages people to get to know their representatives, and to understand the distinction between municipal elections and electing their Area’s representatives. The current SLRD board roster can be viewed here.
The SLRD’s meetings are streamed live on their YouTube page. A list of upcoming meetings can be found on their website.
