The British North America Act forms a part of the Canadian Constitution which divides powers and responsibilities between the Federal and Provincial Governments. The Provinces are assigned the responsibility for local government. The Provinces, in turn, delegate power to local government through provincial legislation.
Regional Districts were formed throughout the province in the last half of the 1960s in order to ensure that rural residents outside of municipal boundaries had access to commonly needed services, no matter where they lived. Prior to that time, local governments were comprised of municipal governments only.
The Ocean Falls Regional District (now the Central Coast Regional District) was incorporated on July 16, 1968 by Letters Patent issued by the Province of British Columbia.
The Central Coast Regional District is the only regional district in the Province of British Columbia without any incorporated municipalities within its boundaries. It therefore consists of five electoral or rural areas. Each area is represented by one director on the board. Local governments are legislated under B.C.´s Local Government Act to conduct elections every four years. The next elections will take place in October 2022.
The Board of Directors, the governing body of the regional district, is ultimately responsible for the services provided and actions taken by the corporation. Every electoral area director must appoint an alternate director to carry out the director´s responsibilities in his or her absence. The board is headed by a Chair, who is the Chief Executive Officer. Each year, the board elects one director to serve as Chair and another to serve as Vice Chair.
Front row: Director Steve Emery (Area A) Director Jim Ward (Area E) Director Lawerance Northeast (Area D) Back Row : Chair Jayme Kennedy (Area C) Director Travis Hall (Area B)