The Tri-City News
Two of the Tri-Cities' three mayors were expected to return home today (Wednesday) in the RV they drove to Niagara Falls last week.
Port Coquitlam's Greg Moore and Port Moody's Mike Clay travelled through the northern U.S. on their Town Haul journey from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' convention that ended Sunday. (Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart travelled with them on the way to Niagara but flew home early to attend his daughter's graduation.)
Reached in North Dakota on Tuesday, Moore and Clay said their adventure through dozens of Canadian municipalities was a trip to remember and will be repeated for the next FCM convention in Edmonton, should they be re-elected in November.
Their cross-country jaunt was an especially good bonding experience. "I think it's going to help the relationship with our three cities," Moore said. "We are going to have some inside jokes now - things that friends share - because of this road trip."
Town Haul will also bring lessons from fellow mayors and councillors.
"There's so much passion at the local level and there are so many solutions that are around, and it's sometimes just connecting with our colleagues - it doesn't matter where they are - about finding those solutions," Moore said.
He said tours of recreation centres were especially useful as PoCo is about to embark on planning for a new rec complex. He cited the mayors' visit to Dryden, Ont., which was the first town in Canada to have a solar-heated pool.
He said smaller towns are struggling financially with limited tax bases and have to be creative with funding capital projects. Many are partnering with senior governments, service groups and First Nations to build community services.
Meanwhile, PoMo's Clay said he looks forward to becoming involved in a new Yellow Pages campaign called Shop the 'Hood, which was highlighted at FCM. "It seems like a really good initiative and the conversations are amazingly similar as you go across the country: We encourage people to shop local," he said.
Clay said FCM delegates were interested in the Tri-City mayors' Town Haul journey and wanted to talk about issues such as how Metro Vancouver cities are handling garbage and recycling collection, and water delivery. "These are things that we do very well and they know," Clay said.
More info: townhaul.ca, twitter.com/townhaulcanada, Instagram @townhaulcanada and YouTube channel townhaulcanada.
