The mayor of a northern B.C. municipality says he’s found a new job in Saskatchewan — but he still intends to keep his mayoral role and make regular 2,600-kilometre round trips to fulfil his duties.
Fort Nelson and Northern Rockies Regional Municipality Mayor Rob Fraser said he’s taking the temporary job to continue his career outside of his civic role, which, like many mayoral positions in rural B.C., is compensated as a part-time position.
At a regional council meeting on Oct. 15, Fraser said he had accepted an offer to work 14 days at a time as a safety supervisor for a seismic survey program in Humboldt, Sask. — about 1,300 kilometres away — and return to B.C. for seven days before heading back to the Prairies again.
“I think I can still represent the community effectively and do the job,” Fraser told CBC News on Monday, saying he has made arrangements with both jobs so he can keep the role of mayor.
“I’ll be attending as many meetings as I can. I put my schedule in such a manner that I will be in town for meetings on my seven days off,” he said. “If it conflicts, then I’ll participate online.”
Christopher Beach, a political science instructor at northern B.C.’s College of New Caledonia, said it’s not unheard of for a rural mayor to hold a second job — but leaving the municipality, let alone the province, might not sit well with residents and could hurt Fraser’s chances of re-election.
“The expectation is usually that somebody in the community is there, so they can respond to things that are happening in the community,” Beach said, adding that part-time municipal politicians are often retirees who do not have to meet the demands of another career.
At the Oct. 15 meeting, Fraser also appointed Coun. Lorraine Gerwing as deputy mayor for one year — a change he said is in part due to his new out-of-province job, but mainly due to an increase in responsibilities as mayor, including managing housing and helping with the response to local wildfires.
Previously, the role of deputy mayor would rotate between councillors every two months.
‘What can you do for $44,000?’
Gerwing said it’s common for residents to leave the community for work, especially residents who work rotations in the oil and gas industry, and other council members work outside of their civic duties.
“[Fraser] hasn’t moved out of the community. He still lives in the community. He’s just got a contract position,” she said. “It’s not unusual for people to be on that type of a rotation but still call Fort Nelson home.”
According the municipality’s website, the Northern Rockies mayor earns about $44,000 per year and councillors make almost $22,000.
“What can you do for $44,000? You can’t live off of that,” Gerwing said. “Employment is changing and very often those employment opportunities are outside of rural B.C.”
She said she is confident Fraser will be able to fulfil his civic duties.
“People need to understand that it takes a team. It isn’t one individual,” she said. “We’re here to work together to offer the best representation that we can.”
Fraser said he expects his job in Saskatchewan to end in March.
A spokesperson for the B.C. Ministry of Municipal Affairs said local governments are autonomous and can adopt their own bylaws about electronic attendance at meetings.
“Many mayor and council positions throughout the province are part-time, which means elected officials also hold jobs in addition to their elected duties,” the spokesperson said in an email.