Message from the Mayor

Mayor’s Message for MAY 2021

No more Covid talk, spring is in the air and hopefully a brighter and fun summer will soon be here.  Sorry, one last Covid word or two.  Great to see the steady line of folks heading to the Sun Peaks Centre for their vaccination shots.  Also great news, our end of the season mini outbreak is now behind us.  Thank you all for paying attention and being so vigilant.  It was amazing to see what good community communications can do, the message got out very quickly and the virus was stopped in its tracks, well done!   Just a few more weeks of paying attention and the rules should be relaxing.

The community survey is now online in the ‘Surveys/Reports’ folder in our Document Library on the Municipal website www.sunpeaksmunicipality.ca.    Our apologies, it took longer than expected to go through all of the surveys to get a concise summary.  The community response was just amazing, most communities are pleased if they get a 10 to 15% response to a survey.  The Sun Peaks response was unbelievable, 943 total responses although not everyone filled out all the questions.  Our guesstimate is that 6o to 65% of property owners/residents participated.  This survey will assist as we move forward with community planning and our Official Community Plan review that should take place this fall.  Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out the survey.

Another important Civic Duty is upon us.  Census day is May 11, 2021.  With the current face to face restrictions, not everyone will receive a Census notice.  You can go online at www.census.gc.ca  and register to fill in your census information.  However, you do need a code to do this.  If you didn’t not receive a code in the mail, please phone 855-340-2021 and request a code number.  It is important that everyone who is presently in Sun Peaks or those who might be away but normally reside here, fill out the Canada Census information. A census questionnaire must be completed for each dwelling in Canada, including secondary residences such as cottages. You will need to complete a full questionnaire for your primary residence and a partial questionnaire for your secondary residence.

If you are travelling within North America and there is no one at home to include you in the questionnaire, you can call the Census Help Line and ask for a secure access code to complete your questionnaire online. Census data is important for everyone who calls Sun Peaks home.  Many of the federal or provincial grants that small communities receive are based on the population numbers obtained from the census.  Many of our services or lack thereof are determined by census information.  Healthcare, school, policing, and other regional services are often based on census numbers, with healthcare and school census information being very important when decisions are made.  We have in the past asked for support only to be told that for 371 residents, those services cannot be provided.  Please make sure that everyone who works or resides or is in Sun Peaks on May 11^th is counted, we are counting on you.

Enjoy the warmer weather!

Al Raine, Mayor