Rachael Lesosky, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Valley Voice

The RDCK will send a letter to the Ministry of Forests in support of the Forestry Works for BC Campaign, and of value-added and community-focused forestry.  

Ken Kalesnikoff, president and CEO of Kalesnikoff Lumber, made a presentation to the board in August regarding the Forestry Works for BC initiative, which seeks to raise awareness about forestry’s role in the well-being of rural and urban communities. 

Dr. Rachel Holt, an independent ecologist, sent a letter to the board, dated October 15. It asked the board to write a letter in support of a more diversified future. The board discussed her letter and settled on including her points on value-added and community-focused forestry.

Kootenay & Boundary Farm Advisors

Sarah Hirschfeld and Rachael Roussin from Kootenay & Boundary Farm Advisors (KBFA) gave a presentation to the board on the organization’s agricultural extension services. Hirschfeld is the program coordinator, and both she and Roussin are farm advisors. 

KBFA provides Kootenay farmers with free technical production support. It is locally focused so resources are relevant and applicable, said Hirschfeld.

Farmers can call KBFA with questions and are connected to a core team of farm advisors – all professional agrologists. Questions can be answered via phone or email, but advisors also do “boots-on-the-ground” farm visits, said Hirschfeld, to assess properties and problem solve. And if they can’t find the answers, they’ll connect farmers with the experts who can. 

Since it was formed in 2017, KBFA has interacted one-on-one with about 1,600 farmers in the Central Kootenay, with over 300 farm visits.

KBFA also collaborates on events, connecting famers with peers and experts, said Hirschfeld. Events and workshops are in direct response to common questions from producers. KBFA has partnered with the BC Forage Council, the Ministry of Agriculture, Small-Scale Meat Producers Association, and Organic BC, among many other organizations. 

KBFA was developed by the Regional Districts of Central Kootenay, East Kootenay, and Kootenay Boundary, which continue to fund it to this day, alongside Columbia Basin Trust. KBFA was renewed in April for another five years and is well on track to meet its deliverables this fiscal year, said Hirschfeld. 

Kootenay childcare

Leandri Kleinhans, manager of Creston Valley-Kootenay Lake Economic Action Partnership (EAP), presented a proposed project to help the future of childcare in the Kootenays. 

The project plans to put significant resources into recruiting early childhood educators (ECEs), and to support childcare centres through business coaching. 

Almost half of the 160 licenced providers in the region responded to a study conducted by Community Futures East Kootenay, Selkirk College, and Mitacs. 70% reported that recruitment is a major challenge, and 30% said they were not financially sustainable long-term. 

EAP’s proposed project plans to hire a full-time Kootenay Childcare Recruiter. Through targeted marketing campaigns, it hopes to recruit between 90 and 120 ECEs by March 2027. 

It also plans to offer childcare-specific business coaching to help centres achieve financial and operational sustainability. It hopes to provide coaching to 10 expanding centres, and about 20 at-risk centres. 

EAP applied to the Rural Economic Diversification and Infrastructure Program (REDIP). REDIP requires a 20% applicant contribution. For EAP, that’s $100,000, said Kleinhans.

The board will offer a letter of support and $15,000 towards the application. Funds will come out of the Area A (S107) and Creston and Areas B and C (S108) economic development funds.

Indigenous engagement for EDMA

The RDCK will partner with interested member municipalities to complete the Indigenous engagement requirements of the Emergency Disaster Management Act (EDMA). 

Interested municipalities will pool their Indigenous Engagement Requirement (IER) funds with the RDCK to hire a consulting firm to facilitate the engagement process. 

EDMA requires municipalities and regional districts to work with the Indigenous Governing Bodies (IGBs) whose traditional territories or treaty lands fall within their emergency management authority. 

To meet these requirements, the RDCK and its municipalities received $40,000 each from the IER funding program, administered by the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. Since the RDCK and all nine municipalities need to engage with the same IGBs, staff believed pooling resources would achieve more substantive and comprehensive engagement, and respect IGBs’ capacities. 

Interested municipalities will alert the RDCK of their commitment, and staff will soon issue an RFP for a consulting firm to design and facilitate the engagement process. 

Emergency Support Services

RDCK staff will submit an application to the UBCM Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF) for new equipment and training for RDCK Emergency Support Services volunteers. The maximum funding available is $40,000. 

If received, the RDCK will purchase new computers for the ESS IT kits. This summer, the iPads in the kits were no longer compatible, said Jon Jackson, Emergency Program Coordinator. Volunteers could not provide full service with the iPads and had to rely on individuals’ personal devices. 

The RDCK will also send volunteers to the Network of Emergency Support Services Teams (NESST), a provincial ESS conference offering training and networking opportunities.

Framework for Accessibility Plan endorsed

The board endorsed the Accessibility Framework, a document that will guide the RDCK in drafting a three-year Accessibility Plan in 2025.

The framework outlines several steps to create a plan. First, in collaboration with a consultant and the Regional Accessibility Advisory Committee (RAAC), staff will identify accessibility barriers within the RDCK’s services, and seek input from the public.

Based on feedback and assessment data, next steps will identify priority areas, set goals and objectives, and develop actions to achieve them. From there, the accessibility plan can be drafted, reviewed, and revised. 

An Accessibility Plan is a requirement of the Accessible British Columbia Act, passed in 2021. Plans must consider principles of inclusion, adaptability, diversity, collaboration, self-determination, and universal design.

The legislation has seven focus areas for improving accessibility: built environment (accessible public spaces and buildings); employment (inclusive hiring practices and workplace accommodations); information technology and communications (ensuring everyone has access to information and services); regional programs and services (inclusive and accessible local programs); transportation (improving access for individuals with disabilities); and procurement and financial services (purchasing processes that consider accessibility needs). 

The RDCK will identify barriers and create solutions through the lens of these focus areas to enhance accessibility for all.

The RAAC is also a requirement of the Act. It provides direction and input to the RDCK and any of its member municipalities that may not have enough volunteers in their community to form a committee of their own. The RDCK and each municipality must create their own frameworks and plans.

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