City council in Williams Lake will continue to use the purchasing power of the city to support Canada in the ongoing trade war with the United States.
In a resolution, council expressed support for both the federal and provincial governments in their response to the U.S. tariffs. Council also will continue with the city's 'Made in Canada' campaign, which helps identify Canadian-made items more easily.
The city has directed staff to put all major capital purchases on hold until the city receives further direction from the provincial and federal governments.
In terms of operations, council has directed staff to make efforts to purchase Canadian goods and services as much as possible for operations.
Heated debate at the committee of the whole meeting on March 11 saw a lot of discussion around the motion put forward by Coun. Scott Nelson to put a hold on all purchases from the United States. This discussion led to a more modified version to give staff some flexibility after an amendment brought forward by Coun. Jazmyn Lyons.
Mayor Surinderpal Rathor, who had been away at a local government leadership forum for the discussion, commended council on their work on bringing forward the modified recommendation.
"Every one of the points here council came up with I support wholeheartedly," said Rathor, noting they are sticking with "Team Canada" and "Team B.C." to help present a united front in the ongoing trade war.
"Major capital projects (such as vehicle purchases) will be paused and staff will be making changes to current procurement practices to investigate Canadian-made options wherever possible at the operational level," said Ross Coupé, corporate officer for the city in an email inquiring how the recommendation will be implemented.
While discussions at an earlier council meeting questioned how ta restrictive directive on any U.S. purchases may impact things such as the city's website, which is hosted by a U.S. company, Coupé said these types of cases will be reviewed in an ongoing basis by staff as existing contracts or payments expire.
Regarding the potential commitment of staff time, "we expect that additional research and review will be required to more thoroughly vet each operational purchasing option for country of origin, but it is still too early for me to provide any estimate on how significant a time commitment it will be," stated Coupé.
A staff report for council indicated the city purchases over $28 million worth of goods and services in a year and said while the city does not often purchase things directly from the United States, it can be difficult to determine if products purchased from Canadian-based businesses originate from the U.S. or Canada or elsewhere.
Council voted to adopt the four-part recommendation of expressing support for upper levels of government, continuing the city's Made in Canada campaign, put all major capital purchases on hold until further direction is given by the province or federal government, and direct staff to purchase Canadian first where possible.
Coun. Michael Moses, Coun. Jazmyn Lyons, Coun. Sheila Boehm, Nelson, and Rathor voted in favour of the recommendation.
Coun. Angie Delainey, who had expressed her concern at the committee of the whole meeting the city would be limiting staff's ability to do their jobs by increasing the restrictiveness further from the initial recommendation in the report, voted against.
Coun. Joan Flaspohler was away.
