1.      Directors Motions
a.                 Smart Meter Installation in Electoral Area “D” – Director Siddon
Director Siddon presented a petition regarding Smart Meters that he had received, containing 234 names.
 
It was MOVED and SECONDED
Whereas over 60 municipalities, regional districts and First Nation governments in British Columbia, including the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (2012) have now called for a “moratorium” on the mandatory installation of wireless “smart” utility meters in their communities until an opt-out option is made available;
 
And given that such wireless electricity meters (the Itron Open Way AM-17) are currently being installed throughout the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys by Corix Utilities on behalf of FortisBC, usually without securing any form of written consent from affected property owners;
 
And whereas the Itron meters that are presently being installed on privately owned residences are not UL approved or CSA certified, nor will FortisBC provide a letter of certification from a qualified professional engineer giving assurance that such meters do not constitute a risk to health and fire safety, as required by BC Safety Standards Act Section 21(4); raising doubt that such installations are legal, or that liability is accepted by either FortisBC or Corix;

 And, given that the Heritage Hills/Lakeshore Highlands Resident’s Association unanimously adopted a motion in December of 2014 requesting the RDOS to pass a Resolution “opposing the installation of Smart Meters in Area ‘D’ of the Regional District”;
 
And whereas more than 230 residents living in several communities of the South Okanagan and Similkameen have in recent weeks signed a petition calling upon the RDOS to decline approval for any installation of smart meters (which may violate building code requirements), until safety and human health risks have been clearly disproven by published scientific fact;
 
And recognizing that on May 7, 2015 the Canadian Medical Association Journal published a scathing condemnation of Health Canada’s Safety Code 6 guidelines for non-ionizing radiation from wireless devices, including smart meters, warning that the microwave levels allowed in Canadian classrooms, residences and workplaces constitute a “disaster to public health”;

And further noting that  just last week, over 200 distinguished scientists and cancer specialists from 39 nations submitted an open Appeal to the United Nations, its Member states, and the World Health Organization, calling upon the WHO to consider reclassifying electromagnetic fields from wireless devices to Group 2A agents, as “probable carcinogens”; these experts call upon the WHO to take urgent measures to strengthen the International regulation of non-ionizing radiation, “to protect our children, ourselves and our ecosystems”;
 
And finally, whereas the British Columbia Public Health Act gives ultimate responsibility for Health Protection to the Minister of Health and to BC’s Chief Medical Health Officer, and under Sec. 83 (1), the Act requires that any local government must take action upon being made aware of any health hazard or health impediment within its jurisdiction, by reporting the health hazard to a Provincial Health Officer, and by taking actions or enforcing any Regulations as prescribed by Sec. 120(1) of the Public Health Act.
 
Therefore, by virtue of the aforestated facts, it is hereby resolved that the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen does petition the Premier of British Columbia (the Hon. Christy Clark), the Minister of Health (the Hon. Terry Lake), and the Chief Medical Health Officer for BC (Dr. Perry Kendall) to acknowledge the real and rapidly increasing dangers of wireless radiation in all forms; and that the current exposure guidelines adhered to by the Province, namely Health Canada’s Safety Code 6, are outdated and inappropriate, and do not adequately protect citizens of RDOS, or indeed all British Columbians, from serious chronic health effects resulting from long-term exposure to increasingly hazardous levels of wireless electromagnetic radiation.
 
And be it further resolved that in the interest of public safety, the Government of BC, through the BC Utilities Commission, be requested to order an immediate halt to mandatory installation of advanced (wireless) utility meters on all private residences within the jurisdiction of RDOS; and further, that all such meters recently installed within Electoral Area “D” of the Regional District be removed immediately, at full cost to FortisBC. – CARRIED
Opposed: Directors Bauer, Konanz, Jakubeit, Brydon, Rhodes