
Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon MP Brad Vis/via Misson City Record
The Member of Parliament representing Lytton has issued some sharp criticism as that community officially emerges from a nearly two-year long State of Local Emergency this Monday.
Mission-Matsqui-Fraser Canyon Conservative Brad Vis with some pointed criticism — not toward the federal Liberals — but toward the provincial government.
In a rare nod across the political aisle, Vis says the federal government has given the appropriate amount of money to Lytton, arguing the problems in getting rebuilding started in the community lie in provincial bureaucracy.
“One of the first discussions the public servants in Victoria were asking for was ‘Oh, let’s build back at net-zero homes and we’ll make this the most friendly community in the world in respect to combatting climate change,'” said Vis. “We can’t combat climate change if we don’t have good governance.”

The town centre in the Village of Lytton on July 6, 2021, a week after a wildfire tore through town. (Photo by John Horgan)
Vis notes the Lytton First Nation, through direct help from Ottawa, has already been able to set up a grocery store and a Canada Post outlet.
“The Village of Lytton, just a couple of kilometers away, had to go through the municipality, the provincial government and the federal government, and new rules under the BC Heritage Act, which required every property owner to go through an individual archaeological assessment,” said Vis.
He argues the revised BC Heritage Act has been the key reason why — nearly two years after the fire destroyed much of Lytton — that no homes in the community have been rebuilt.
“I think Lytton needs to serve as an example of what not to do in the future,” said Vis. “Let’s not forget that some of the landowners in the Village are First Nation as well, they’re part of Lytton First Nation. I think in the contracts moving forward now, we have to respect UNDRIP [United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples] and the rights of Indigenous people on their traditional land. But we need to do it in a balanced way, and under a better time frame.”
The lifting of the local State of Emergency in Lytton now allows property owners access to their land again.
The Mayor of Lytton, Denise O’Connor, has suggested those who are hoping to rebuild are likely going to be able to start within the next couple of months.