“As Mayors of BC’s largest communities, we are standing together today in support of our healthcare workers who have been working tirelessly since March 2020 to save lives of those who have contracted COVID-19 during this pandemic.
While we support the right to peaceful protest, demonstrations of this nature should not impede people’s safe access to healthcare and worker’s safe access to their workplace. From Kamloops to Kelowna and communities across our province, healthcare workers deserve everyone’s respect, gratitude and support.
The BC Urban Mayors’ Caucus supports the decisions of the Public Health Officer and Centre for Disease Control to keep people safe and curb the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta variant through proof of vaccination cards for non-essential services. The best action we can all take is to get vaccinated and follow the public health orders set out by Dr. Bonnie Henry.
This pandemic has taken a toll on people’s physical and mental health which has exacerbated many of the challenges facing our communities. The BCUMC looks forward to working alongside our provincial and federal partners to stem the spread of COVID-19 so that we can address the concurrent mental health crises as noted in our Blueprint for BC’s Urban Future.”
About the BC Urban Mayors’ Caucus
The BC Urban Mayors’ Caucus is an informal, non-partisan group of mayors from Abbotsford, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Prince George, Richmond, Saanich, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria, representing over 55 per cent of the province’s total population. The group came together in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and acts as a unified voice on critical issues facing their communities and urban British Columbia.
The group published the Blueprint for British Columbia’s Urban Future, which outlines four key priorities for urban communities across the province:
- Mental Health, Substance Use and Treatment
- Affordable Housing
- Public Transit
- A New Fiscal Framework
Read the blueprint here.