CSRD Area C will become 2 Electoral Areas
The Director’s Scoop - Paul Demenok Director, Electoral Area C (South Shuswap)
The Province of British Columbia has approved the reconfiguration of CSRD Area C into 2 Electoral Areas. CSRD Area C as of November 17, 2022 will include Sunnybrae, Tappen, Skimikin, White Lake, and Eagle Bay while a new electoral area CSRD Area “G” will include Blind Bay, Sorrento, and Notch Hill. The map below outlines the new boundaries.
The reason for this is to improve elected official representation of these areas as the “old” Area C with 8,919 residents was one of the most populous electoral areas in the province. The 2 new areas will each be represented by one director, thus making our representation at the CSRD Board table more equivalent to other electoral areas in this regional district and the rest of the Province. The 2 new directors will be elected during the October 15 local government election.
There will be little or no immediate change as a result of this reconfiguration. All bylaws, policies and procedures will remain as is. Separate service area budgets will be developed, and budget reserve amounts will be equitably shared between Areas C and G. Services shared across several electoral areas such as Shuswap Economic Development, Shuswap Tourism, Okanagan Regional Library and Shuswap Emergency Program will continue as they are. Annual Community Works Funds grant funding as well as reserves will be split equitably. Services such as fire suppression, parks, grants-in-aid, building inspection, development permitting, zoning, Official Community Plan designations, development variance permitting and permitting of docks will continue as per the current arrangements. Taxation rates will be similar to those now in CSRD Area C.
The new CSRD Board will include 5 directors appointed by their municipalities and 7 directors elected from the 7 electoral areas. Weighted voting, which is used on financial matters, will continue to be as is with CSRD Areas C and G sharing 4 of 27 weighted votes.
Please Help Us Improve Our Internet Services
Paul Demenok is the current director for the South Shuswap (includes Blind Bay, Carlin, Eagle Bay, Kault Hill, Notch Hill, Sorrento, Shuswap Lake Estates, Skimikin, Sunnybrae and White Lake).
Our sincere thanks are extended to the 1500+ people who have participated in our Internet Speed Test project thus far, but we still need more participation, and more data. The purpose of this test is to demonstrate that actual internet speeds achieved in our homes, particularly in Sorrento and Blind Bay, are well below to 50/10 mbps Canadian standard. Hopefully doing so will enable us to become qualified to receive Federal and Provincial grants that are needed to improve internet services.
Our goal is to achieve fibre optic services in all of the CSRD. Some areas within Area C already have, or will soon receive, fibre optic services to the home, but the most populous centers in Sorrento and Blind Bay will not despite the fact that fibre optic cabling runs run through these areas. Maps put out by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority show Sorrento and Blind Bay as already receiving 50/10 services and this is erroneous.
Please help the Shuswap Economic Development Society achieve its goal of obtaining at least 50% of all households in our area participating in this test. To participate please click here.
All data collected will not identify you in any way and will remain anonymous. Please note that we are looking for home computer participation rather than via cell phones. Thanks for your help!
