Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Bill Bennett announced today that Cabinet has approved the incorporation of Jumbo as a mountain resort municipality.

A municipal council has been appointed for a term ending Nov. 30, 2014, and an interim corporate officer has also been named and will serve until the first council meeting of the new municipality.

Appointed as Jumbo's first mayor and councillors are Greg Deck, Nancy Hugunin and Steve Ostrander. Phil Taylor will be the interim corporate officer, ensuring that the municipality is operational by its incorporation date of Feb. 19, 2013.

Jumbo Glacier Resort's Master Development Agreement was approved in March 2012, following a 20-year review process and extensive consultation that informed and developed the Environmental Assessment Certificate, Resort Master Plan and Master Development Agreement.

In 2009, the Regional District of East Kootenay requested that the B.C. government incorporate Jumbo as a mountain resort municipality. In May 2012, government amended the Local Government Act to clarify provincial authority to incorporate a mountain resort municipality whether or not there are residents in the area at the time of incorporation.

The year-round ski resort will be located at the foot of Jumbo Mountain and Jumbo Glacier, 55 km west of Invermere. The $450-million resort is planned in three phases and will ultimately include 5,500 bed-units in a 104-hectare resort base area. It is projected to provide approximately 3,750 person years of construction employment and create 750 to 800 permanent full-time jobs.

Two backgrounders follow.

Contact:

Matt Gordon
Communications Director
Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
250 953-3677

BACKGROUNDER 1

Jumbo's council and interim corporate officer appointed

Appointed today as the first mayor and councillors of Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality are Greg Deck, Nancy Hugunin, and Stephen Ostrander. The council's role is to protect the public interest and will include:

• Ensuring that the resort is developed with future residents in mind and that the services and amenities are in place to accommodate them.
• Considering the protection of the environment, and the interest of First Nations.
• Considering the economic development interests of the provincial government and the resort developer.

Selection of council members was based on several suitability factors including local government experience and knowledge of the region. The term of the appointments is from Feb. 19, 2013 to Nov. 30, 2014, and is designed to align with the general local government election cycle. A fully elected council will be put in place at the earliest possible date.

Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipal Council:

Greg Deck - mayor

Greg Deck grew up in the Radium Hot Springs area, and after education and employment in the U.S. and France, returned to the region in 1979. He served as mayor of Radium from its incorporation in 1990 until his retirement in 2008. He also served as the chair of the Regional District of East Kootenay for six years and most recently as a trustee of the Municipal Finance Authority of BC. Greg continues to sit on Columbia Basin Trust Board as one of its founding directors.

Nancy Hugunin - councillor

Nancy Hugunin has been a small-business owner and entrepreneur for 35 years. She is co-owner and operator of a construction company, two restaurants and for the last five years has worked with regional and provincial agencies regarding subdivision consulting and infrastructure approvals. She has been a member, director and president of Windermere Valley Ski Club and serves as Kootenay regional chairperson for the BC Ski Association. Nancy is a mother, a grandmother and has been a Kootenay Valley resident since 1976.

Stephen Ostrander - councillor

Stephen Ostrander has lived in Invermere for most of his life. Graduating from the local David Thompson high school in the early 1970s, he went on to earn a degree in forestry from U.B.C. and then returned to Invermere to work as a professional forester. For the past 30 years, he has been employed locally at all levels of forest planning and management while working at various times for the provincial government and the forest industry. In 2008, Stephen retired from full-time work and since then has been actively involved in a number of volunteer organizations. He is currently a director for the Columbia Valley Food Bank, the Lake Windermere District Lions Club and the Columbia Headwaters Community Forest Initiative. In addition to his volunteer activities, Stephen continues to work part time as a forest management consultant.

Also appointed is Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality interim corporate officer Phil Taylor. He will work to set up the municipality prior to the incorporation date and council's inaugural meeting. In addition, he will attend and staff the first council meeting and provide any follow up required.

Phil Taylor is a Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy qualified accountant with over 32 years experience in the local government sector, including nearly 20 years at the senior strategic management and corporate level. He has worked primarily for smaller communities, most recently for the town of Golden.

Contact:

Matt Gordon
Communications Director
Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
250 953-3677

BACKGROUNDER 2

Summary timeline of Jumbo's history

• March 1991: Formal Proposal submitted to the Province and start of competitive process to identify other potential applications in the same area.
• 1992 - Nov 1994: Review delayed, pending decision under CORE land use process - resulted in a designation for the Jumbo area that supported commercial tourism and resort development use, subject to such development being capable of mitigating potential environmental impacts.
• 1993: Preliminary review under Commercial Alpine Ski Policy.
• March 1993: Interim Agreement signed by the Province - provided sole proponent status and a License of Occupation required to enter onto the land in order to prepare the Master Plan.
• July 1995 - October 2004: Environmental Assessment Act review - EA Certificate granted, with conditions.
• October 2005: Judicial review of the EAO process - the judge upheld the EA Certificate.
• 2006: Review of the draft Resort Master Plan under the All Seasons Resort Policy.
• 2006: Consultation continued under the All Seasons Resort Policy, with commitment to Ktunaxa Nation that a master development agreement would not be concluded with the proponent until consultation was completed.
• July 2007: Resort Master Plan approved by the Province.
• 2009: EA Certificate extended for a further five years.
• June 2009: Then-Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts advised the Ktunaxa that the consultation process, as per the agreement between Ktunaxa and the Province, was complete. Ktunaxa provided additional information about the area. The Province agreed to consider the new information. Consultation continued.
• Nov. 15, 2010: Ktunaxa present their Qat'muk Declaration to the Province at the legislature. The declaration says the area is sacred to the Grizzly Bear.
• Summer 2011: Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Steve Thomson visits the proposed site and meets with the Shuswap, the Ktunaxa and the proponent.
• March 2012: Thomson approves the Master Development Agreement for Jumbo Glacier Resort under the Land Act and the Ministry of Lands, Parks and Housing Act.
• November 2012: Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Bill Bennett announces Letters Patent approved, to incorporate Jumbo as a mountain resort municipality. Bennett also appoints three member municipal council and appoints interim corporate officer.

Contact:

Matt Gordon
Communications Director
Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
250 953-3677