Fernie Mayor Ange Qualizza has nominated for position of First Vice President at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM).
Qualizza has served on the UBCM executive since the 2020-2021 year, when she was elected as Third Vice President. She then served as Second Vice President in the 2021-2022 year.
UBCM serves as the peak body of local governments in the province, and acts as a go-between for the third tier of government and the provincial government in Victoria.
As of close of nominations on July 29, Qualizza is unopposed in the run to serve as the First VP.
In her biography (and election pitch) submitted to UBCM and released as part of a nomination package on August 10, Qualizza leaned into her background in economics.
“Economics is a field that specializes in scarce resources, and as local governments face increasing demand on our own scarce resources, it has never been more important to find creative solutions to build sustainable communities,” she wrote.
Drawing on her experience on various local government committees, Qualizza wrote that “building capacity and sharing knowledge (is) foundational to (her) approach in government.”
She wrote that she was running First VP to “support, build and advocate for more dedicated resources for local government that will serve our long-term resiliency.
“We need to strengthen development finance, continue to emphasize a need for access to long term non-competitive funding for local governments to work on climate action, we need better supports for emergency management and continue to collaborate on the housing crisis.
“Working together, sharing successes and challenges, and making sure every corner of our Province is represented is critical to our success.”
The election for the UBCM executive will take place on September 14. While Qualizza is unopposed in her bid to be First VP, nominations can come from the floor at the UBCM Convention on the day.
READ MORE: Qualizza to sit on UBCM executive (from 2020)
scott.tibballs@thefreepress.ca
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