THE CURRENT SITUATION

In February of 1981 the Planning Committee modified the original proposal
by adding the stipulation that continuation of the proposed department
for more than three years would require the formal approval of two-thirds
of the member councils plus a Board resolution having the support of two-
thirds of the members with two-thirds of the votes. It was thought

that this requirement for direct municipal endorsement might overcome
the concerns of the councils who felt the proposed economic development
department would rapidly expand into a large and castly bureaucracy
which was beyond the control of the municipalities.

The modified proposal proved to be no more acceptable than the original.
All six councils which did not initially support the creation of a
regional. body have reaffirmed their position.

It is evident that there is insufficient Support for the Task Force's
proposal to create a GVRD economic development department that serves
the whole region. The Planning Committee is now in a position to make
final recommendations to the Board on the disposition of the Task Force
Proposals. -

OPTIONS AND DISCUSSION

There are three major options available:

Option 1: Drop all further efforts to pursue the Task Force recommendations.

Option 2: Establish a GVRD economic development department to serve only
the municipalities which are prepared to participate.

Option 3: Abandon the organizational approach and wide mandate recommended
by the Task Force but ask the Planning Department to develop,
as part of its 1982 budget process, a work program and budget
which will enable the GVRD to Provide some of the reactive
services which the Task Force found were needed.

OPTIGN 1: Drop all further efforts to pursue the recommendations

The Task Force conducted a thorough and impartial examination

of the need for an economic development body in the GVRD. It
found a signficiant gap in the services available to assist with
economic development in the region. The area wide information and
assistance required by businesses considering a Western Canada
location is simply not available. The lack of an impartial
first contact in a region as complex as the GVRD and the
increasing sophistication of development bodies in other cities
places the GVRD at a distinct disadvantage in the competition
for firms creating new jobs. The need to fill at least a part
of the gap identified by the Task Force points strongly towards
rejecting Option 1 - dropping all efforts to pursue the Task
Force recommendations.