Backgrounder on Amalgamation Yes and Angus Reid Global Poll
July 29, 2014
The Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation Society (Amalgamation Yes) is a non-profit, non-partisan society that believes a change in governance structure is needed in the Greater Victoria region. They are encouraging local municipalities to put a non-binding amalgamation question on the November municipal ballot to assess the level of popular support for this initiative. The group has also started a petition and thousands of local residents have added their names.
The ballot question would be non-binding but could demonstrate the social willingness to begin with the necessary research, public engagement, and feasibility studies to determine if amalgamation is indeed in the best interests of the region.
The Society expects that a positive result would motivate the Province to commission an expert study comparing various municipal amalgamation models and trigger further community engagement.
As part of this initiative, Amalgamation Yes recently commissioned Angus Reid Global (ARG) to conduct a poll gauging thoughts, feelings and opinions of local residents regarding reducing the number of municipalities in the region through amalgamation. The poll also asked respondents for their opinion on other municipal governance issues. The society believes that this poll is the first of its kind to be done in the region.
The Mayor and Council of the municipality of Victoria have voiced support for the initiative, although the mayors and councils of the other 12 municipalities have not yet supported the inclusion of a non-binding amalgamation question on the ballots this fall.
Quick Facts:
Contact Information:
John Vickers: Amalgamation Yes, Vice Chair & Spokesperson, 250-661-5350
Susan Jones: Amalgamation Yes, Chair, 250-217-5340
Website: www.amalgamationyes.ca
July 29, 2014
The Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation Society (Amalgamation Yes) is a non-profit, non-partisan society that believes a change in governance structure is needed in the Greater Victoria region. They are encouraging local municipalities to put a non-binding amalgamation question on the November municipal ballot to assess the level of popular support for this initiative. The group has also started a petition and thousands of local residents have added their names.
The ballot question would be non-binding but could demonstrate the social willingness to begin with the necessary research, public engagement, and feasibility studies to determine if amalgamation is indeed in the best interests of the region.
The Society expects that a positive result would motivate the Province to commission an expert study comparing various municipal amalgamation models and trigger further community engagement.
As part of this initiative, Amalgamation Yes recently commissioned Angus Reid Global (ARG) to conduct a poll gauging thoughts, feelings and opinions of local residents regarding reducing the number of municipalities in the region through amalgamation. The poll also asked respondents for their opinion on other municipal governance issues. The society believes that this poll is the first of its kind to be done in the region.
The Mayor and Council of the municipality of Victoria have voiced support for the initiative, although the mayors and councils of the other 12 municipalities have not yet supported the inclusion of a non-binding amalgamation question on the ballots this fall.
Quick Facts:
- The Greater Victoria region has a total of 13 different municipalities and the CRD, which collectively govern a population of about 340,000.
- Amalgamation is not a new idea for the region. At various times throughout the last century there has been a public discussion on this idea but the governance structure has remained static.
- The survey questionnaire was written by ARG. The survey was conducted online, and the respondent sample is balanced to age, gender and municipal population across the region, with respondents proportionally representing the population of each of the 13 municipalities. 441 adults from respondents in the 13 communities that comprise the Capital Region were surveyed online between July 16 –17, 2014. The sample is balanced to census on age and gender. A probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of a +/-4.7%, 19 times out of 20.
- Local residents contacted through various community engagement events have expressed the following as the most common issues of concern with the Greater Victoria area: a lack of integrated regional policing, a lack of regional transportation planning / traffic concerns, a problematic governance structure (e.g. an undemocratic CRD), a lack of sustainable community land use planning, regional environmental concerns, and high taxes combined with unsustainable local municipal financing.
- The non-binding question proposed by Amalgamation Yes is as follows: “Are you in favour of reducing the number of municipalities in the Capital Regional District through amalgamation?”
Contact Information:
John Vickers: Amalgamation Yes, Vice Chair & Spokesperson, 250-661-5350
Susan Jones: Amalgamation Yes, Chair, 250-217-5340
Website: www.amalgamationyes.ca