Bylawpedia
Municipalities are a form of local government. In fact, in much of Canada, the terms municipality and local government mean essentially the same thing - a local authority responsible for a geographic area within a province or territory, providing local services and making regulations called bylaws to govern local matters (Plunkett, 2006; Province of British Columbia, n.d.). By contrast, in the province of British Columbia, municipalities are actually a specific category of local government, with the other main category of local government being regional districts (Government of British Columbia, n.d.).
Provincial legislation in British Columbia sets up a system of local government, designating the different categories of local government and assigning different powers to each. With municipalities, their powers are primarily set out in the Community Charter (2003) and, to a lesser extent, the Local Government Act (2015). They have authority to pass bylaws to deal with a broad array of matters and to establish a wide variety of services (Government of British Columbia, 2019).
British Columbia law subdivides municipalities into different classes depending on their population and the size of the geographic area within their boundaries. These classifications are cities, towns, villages and district municipalities. The legislation previously also had a classification known as a township, but this is no longer used; when the law changed, existing townships were allowed to keep that designation, but no new townships could be created (Government of British Columbia, 2023).
There are also four specialized municipalities which do not fit into the normal system for one reason or another, those being as follows:
City of Vancouver - has the designation of 'city' but, instead of being governed by the Community Charter like other cities, it has a separate statute called the Vancouver Charter which sets out its powers (City of Vancouver, n.d.).
Mountain Resort Municipality of Sun Peaks - has the designation of 'mountain resort municipality' and is governed by the Community Charter, under which it is dealt with in the same manner as a district municipality with a few exceptions (Community Charter, 2003, ss. 8 & 10).
Northern Rockies Regional Municipality - has the designation of 'regional municipality' and is dealt with as a district municipality for some purposes and as a regional district for some others, depending on the legislation in question (Union of British Columbia Municipalities, 2022, Fact Sheets 13, 16 & 22).
Resort Municipality of Whistler - has the designation of 'resort municipality' but it has the same powers and functions as a district municipality, with a few variations specified in a statute called the Resort Municipality of Whistler Act (1996, s. 3).
The governing body of a municipality is known as a council (Plunkett, 2006). Depending on the province or territory, and of the particular community, members of council can be elected to represent a specific geographic area in the community or can be elected 'at large', that is to say, everyone in the community gets to elect the member, regardless of geographical area (Lightbody, 2006). Councils of municipalities consider and debate issues and make decisions, such as whether to adopt resolutions or enact bylaws within their authority. All members of a municipal council are entitled to one vote in the proceedings of the council (Government of British Columbia, 2024).
Throughout Canada, the practice is for there to be one member of a municipal council to hold the position of mayor (Plunkett, 2006). In British Columbia, the mayor of a community is elected by all the eligible voters of a community and is considered the chief executive officer of the municipality. In that office, the mayor has all the duties and powers of a councillor, plus some additional ones. As a few examples, the mayor is responsible for chairing and presiding over meetings of the council, providing leadership to the council by recommending bylaws and policies and, subject to some restrictions, overseeing the work of municipal officers and employees. It should be mentioned that, despite the mayor holding a leadership position on the council, the office holder is still only entitled to one vote, like all other members (Government of British Columbia, 2024).
Eligibility to vote in the elections for a municipality's council depend on the laws of the province or territory in question. For the province of British Columbia, voting rights are recognized for all persons who, on the day of the election, are Canadian citizens who are 18 or older, are residents of the community in question and have lived in BC for at least 6 months. Additionally, BC law allows a person to vote in a local government election even if they don't live in the community, as long as the person is a Canadian citizen who is at least 18 years old, has lived in BC for at least 6 months and has owned land in the community for at least 30 days; but corporations do not get to vote and, in the case of land that has multiple individuals as owners, only one of the individuals gets to vote based on ownership (Government of British Columbia, 2022). Persons can be disqualified by law from voting in local government elections under certain circumstances; i.e. section 64 of the Local Government Act declares a person to be disqualified if, amongst other things, the individual is serving a sentence of imprisonment for an indictable offence and has not been released on parole or probation (Local Government Act, 2015, s. 64).
REFERENCES:
Community Charter, SBC 2003, c 26. https://canlii.ca/t/5660d
City of Vancouver. (n.d.) The Vancouver Charter. City of Vancouver. https://vancouver.ca/your-government/the-vancouver-charter.aspx
Government of British Columbia. (n.d.). Local Governments. Province of British Columbia. Retrieved on March 10, 2024 from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments
Government of British Columbia. (2022, November 9). Voter eligibility. Province of British Columbia. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/governance-powers/general-local-elections/voting-local-elections/voter-eligibility
Government of British Columbia. (2019, December 3). Municipal Powers & Services. Province of British Columbia. Retrieved on March 10, 2024 from https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/governance-powers/powers-services/municipal-powers-services
Government of British Columbia. (2023, November 2). Municipalities in B.C.. Province of British Columbia. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/facts-framework/systems/municipalities
Government of British Columbia. (2024, February 28). Mayors and councillors. Province of British Columbia. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/local-governments/governance-powers/councils-boards/municipal-council-organization/mayor-councillors
Local Government Act, RSBC 2015, c. 1. https://canlii.ca/t/566f7
Lightbody, J. (2006). Local Elections. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/local-elections
Plunkett, T.J. (2006). Municipal Government in Canada. In The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/municipal-government
Province of British Columbia. (n.d.). Understanding Our Government. WelcomeBC. Retrieved on March 10, 2024 from https://www.welcomebc.ca/Choose-B-C/Explore-British-Columbia/Understanding-Our-Government
Resort Municipality of Whistler Act, RSBC 1996, c. 407. https://canlii.ca/t/54cnq
Union of British Columbia Municipalities. (2022, November). Local Government Fact Sheets: A Reference Guide to Local Government Planning & Operations [Fact Sheet]. Union of British Columbia Municipalities. https://www.ubcm.ca/sites/default/files/2022-12/UBCM%20Local%20Govt%20Fact%20Sheets%202022_0.pdf