CITY OF VANCOUVER
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
Judy Rogers, City Manager
Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager

M E M O R A N D U M

DATE: April 29, 2002

TO: Mayor and Members of Council

FROM: Judy Rogers, City Manager

CC: Syd Baxter, City Clerk

SUBJECT: Update on Impacts of the Provincial Budget on the City of Vancouver

On April 9, a report on the Impacts of the Provincial Budget on the City of Vancouver was included in the package of materials relating to the 2002 Operating Budget. This report is now scheduled for the "Unfinished Business" portion of the April 30 Regular Council meeting.

Since April 9, city staff have identified further information on a number of issues. These include:

Tier 2
Non Market Operations
Notification has been received regarding funding from the Province to support Non-Market Operations. Funding levels for the Evelyn Saller Centre will be the same as in 2001.

Tier 3
Legal Services Society
Service delivery model shifting from 45 regional offices and 15 local agents to 7 regional offices, 24 local agents, and a province-wide call centre.

Childcare
- Changes have been made to childcare subsidies changed effective April 1, 2002. These include changes to the income criteria and to social needs criteria.

- The return to work status has been changed for single parent families with children Aged 3 and up (reduction from Age 7).
- The Funding Assistance Program has been eliminated as of June 30, 2002.

Other Policy and Regulatory Changes
Freedom of Information & Privacy Act
Amendments to the FOI Act have now received Royal assent. Among the more significant amendments are the following:

- An increase in the time to respond to a request from 30 calendar days to 30 business days
- An increase in the types of information local public bodies must make available in their directory of personal information banks
- An expansion of the scope of section 43, allowing the Information and Privacy Commissioner to authorize a public body to disregard requests not only when they "would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the public body because of the repetitious or systematic nature of the requests", but also when they are "frivolous or vexatious"

- The power of the Commissioner to delegate his authority to make orders and issue decisions under section 43

Proposed Safety Standards Act and Regulations
The Provincial Government has undertaken an initiative called the "Safety Engineering Services Transformation Project" which involves consolidating and changing various acts and regulations pertaining to the safety of engineering services such as electrical and gas. A memo from Dave Jackson, Acting Co-Director, License & Inspections, to Mayor and Council regarding changes to the Safety Standards Act has been attached as Appendix 1.

Staff will continue to advise Council regarding impacts on the City of Vancouver as they are identified. Please note that staff are currently examining the recently announced changes in health care services.

Judy Rogers
City Manager
ProvBudget.wpd

CITY OF VANCOUVER
COMMUNITY SERVICES
Licences and Inspections Department
Inspections Division

M E M O R A N D U M April 25, 2002
TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
COPY TO:	Judy Rogers, City Manager Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager Jacquie Forbes-Roberts, General Manager, CSG John Robertson, Chief Building Official Barbara Pearce, Acting Director, Information & Administrative Services, City Clerks
FROM:	Dave Jackson, Acting Co-Director, License and Inspections
SUBJECT:	Proposed Safety Standards Act and Regulations

This is to advise on the progress of a Provincial Government initiative called the "Safety Engineering Services Transformation project". The project involves consolidating and changing various acts and regulations pertaining to the safety of electrical, gas, elevating devices, boiler and pressure vessel installations, replacing their IT systems, and transferring current operations to a separate non-governmental operating agency.

The City currently regulates (inspects) electrical and some natural gas installations and will continue to do so under the proposed changes to the acts and regulations. However, the way we do business in these areas may be effected depending on the outcome of the final legislation due to be released in 2004. At this point staff have viewed preliminary drafts of the proposed Safety Standards Act and the accompanying regulations and have provided feedback through participation in a local government forum and membership on the Electrical Safety Advisory Council.

This is not seen as a downloading exercise. The stated intent is to provide a sustainable, modernized safety system in BC including the development of more effective enforcement tools and the encouragement of more stakeholder involvement in the delivery of safety services.

While the intent of this whole change initiative appears to be aimed at streamlining provincial operations, staff will continue to participate in the ongoing review and provide feedback as each new draft is released.

Dave Jackson

DHJ/nms

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver