Follow us on  Twitter or Contact Us
AMALGAMATION YES
  • Home
  • Research & Studies
    • Research & Studies
    • Saanich - Victoria Citizens' Assembly
    • Duncan - N. Cowichan Amalgamation
    • Politics >
      • Provincial Capital City Comparisons
      • Big City Mayors' Caucus
      • Integrated Service Delivery (ISD)
      • CRD inventory
      • Understanding the CRD - How decisions are made
      • How is the CRD Board Chair selected?
      • Postcards from London: a few lessons we could learn
      • Candidate Quotes, 2013 Prov. Election
      • CRD Weighted Voting
      • Halifax Central Library
    • Municipal Services >
      • 2016 CRD - Unequal Representation
      • CRD - MVRD Comparison
      • 91 Elected Municipal Officials CRD renumeration in 2013
      • Municipal Councilor Member Expenses
      • Municipal Service Matrix
      • Disaster Response & Emergency Management Plans
      • 9-1-1 Service
      • E & N rail summary
    • Maps & Populations
    • Polls
  • About Us
    • Mission & Founders
    • Board of Directors
    • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
    • Annual General Meeting 2020
    • Annual General Meeting 2019
    • Annual General Meeting 2018
    • Annual General Meeting 2017
    • Annual General Meeting 2016
    • Annual General Meeting 2015
    • Annual General Meeting 2014
    • Contact Us
  • Get Involved
    • Memberships & Donations
    • Volunteer
    • Keep in Touch & Comment
    • Contact your municipal council and media
    • Letters
  • Events & Media
    • Media Articles
    • AY Press Releases
    • BC Provincial election 2020
    • Victoria By-Election 2020
    • Municipal Election 2018
    • View Royal By-Election, 2017
    • Saanich By-Election 2017
    • BC Provincial election 2017
    • Municipal Election 2014
    • AY Events, News
  • Gallery
    • Abundance of Appointments
    • Bizarre Borders
    • Cacophony of Councils
    • Farrago of Fire Depts.
    • Heaps of Halls
    • Meet the Minister & MLAs
    • Multiplicity of Municipalities
    • Plethora of Police Depts.
    • Proliferation of Politicians
    • Travails of Transportation
    • Warren of Works Depts.
  • Blog
Amalgamation not a done deal

Times Colonist Editorial,

November 20, 2014


The strong support given amalgamation questions in the municipal election should not be taken as a vote for amalgamation, but as confirmation that the people want the issue explored in a rational and focused way. It’s up to the province to provide the leadership needed to ensure that happens.

Amalgamation has been talked about in the capital region as long as there have been multiple municipalities, but it’s just empty talk without a thorough official study.

Community Minister Coralee Oakes has promised that study, and while it’s still too early to know how that study will proceed, it’s not too early to establish parameters and a firm direction.

It will be hard work, Oakes acknowledges. It will be complex; it will be difficult. And she’s right — it would be foolish to believe there are easy answers or magic solutions.

It’s a little worrying that she has promised staff and resources to communities interested in looking at amalgamation. If that means simply handing the issue back to municipalities, it would be a grave error. Mayors and councils were brought grudgingly to this point; there’s no reason to believe municipal governments will move the issue forward on their own.

It’s vital that municipalities be involved in the process, but this is an issue that screams for input from the other side, from all sides. One factor in the recent election was the perception that the capital region suffers from a lack of public consultation. The province should take pains not to reinforce that perception by limiting who is involved in the study.

Amalgamation is not necessarily the way to go. While the support for studying the issue is broad, there doesn’t appear to be wide support for melding the region’s 13 municipalities into one entity. It’s a moot point, in any case — the province has promised that amalgamation will not be forced on any municipality.

Various combinations have been suggested, one being that the 13 municipalities would become three, divided somewhat along the lines of the school districts. There could be other configurations; the ballot question put to voters in Central Saanich, North Saanich and Sidney was to explore the idea of making those three municipalities into one, and support for that exploration was strong.

Amalgamations in other areas are frequently brought up. Toronto, Halifax and Montreal are cited as regions where amalgamation did not bring promised benefits. But there are positive examples. Kamloops, which had amalgamated with North Kamloops in 1967, was forced by the province to amalgamate with outlying areas in 1973. It has worked.

The amalgamation experience in other areas could inspire questions that should be asked here, but what has happened elsewhere should not determine what happens in Greater Victoria. Each region has its own set of unique circumstances.

The study should not begin with any assumptions. It should not assume amalgamation is good; neither should it assume amalgamation is bad. Its focus should be to gather information, calculating costs and savings, but not ignoring people’s feelings.

The province needs to be firm and fair in gathering information that will allow informed decisions. It needs to be neutral and stay far above regional rivalries and old grudges. The process should be guided by what is right, not who is right. It should be conducted with the interests of the people foremost in mind, not with an eye on the next election.

No one needs to fear the process, because regardless of the outcome, nothing can change without the consent of the people through a referendum.

And when that time comes, the question put to the voters should be direct and unambiguous, drafted with the sole intent of determining the public’s wishes, not of influencing a particular outcome.


© Copyright Times Colonist





Donate
Problems with the website? Email us
Copyright,
​ Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation Society
​1860 Greatford Place,
Victoria, BC, V8R 6M8.
Registered under the  BC Local Elections Campaign Financing Act

8SITE MAP 
Updated  April 16, 2022