When will the Province fulfill its committments for a governance review? (continued)
However parsed, the various questions posed by the majority of municipalities were a barometer of dissatisfaction with the status quo. And thus, 60,000 of the 80,000 people who voted (75%) sent a powerful signal they are ready to look at change.
This is democracy at its basic, most fundamental level.
Immediately after the election, both the Premier and the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development committed to a governance review. Yet one year after, we've seen little action from the councils in working together with the Province.
There is even a handful of current and past councillors and mayors declaring everything to be just swell, while attempting to refute the election results. Like climate change deniers, they fail to acknowledge the evidence that voters in the region are interested to learn how our region might be reviewed and improved. Reviewed and improved -- a basic principle of good management in any public or private sector organization.
Voters have lost patience with money wasted from overspending and squabbling on major regional capital projects, such as sewage and the blue bridge replacement. How much could have been done to solve other important issues with this money?
Fragmented policing and emergency services remain the norm. A local mayor contends that candidates should be forbidden from running in multiple municipalities, while at the same time defending the Capital Regional District (CRD), a decision-making body for the region whose members are there solely to represent their municipality's interests, not the region's -- the ultimate conflict of interest.
And now, a new regional economic development authority has been proposed -- another unelected and unaccountable body funded by municipalities as a sop to what is essentially a problem of municipal fragmentation. At minimum, one might expect this function to be the purview of the existing CRD.
Meanwhile, municipalities continue to go through their parochial planning processes, without proper consultation or due regard to the impact and duplication with neighbouring municipalities. Blame and finger-pointing abound when projects go off the rails. Lessons are learned, they say. But do we learn? Often mistakes are repeated over and over, much to our costly chagrin.
It's past time for Provincial leadership on this issue. Premier Christy Clark and Minister Peter Fassbender must begin a governance study. So far, he has met with local councils and declared there is no consensus among them. While these meetings were necessary, it shouldn't surprise Minister Fassbender that self-interested councils want to maintain the status quo. Power, once achieved, is seldom relinquished lightly. And the Province is acutely aware of the region's governance problems.
The fundamental kernel at the heart of this issue is that the democratic will of the people has been expressed, and it is dissatisfaction with the status quo. The ultimate rulers of democracy are the voters, and we urge the Province and those mayors and councillors to respect the will of the people of this region.
- Tony Heemskerk
However parsed, the various questions posed by the majority of municipalities were a barometer of dissatisfaction with the status quo. And thus, 60,000 of the 80,000 people who voted (75%) sent a powerful signal they are ready to look at change.
This is democracy at its basic, most fundamental level.
Immediately after the election, both the Premier and the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development committed to a governance review. Yet one year after, we've seen little action from the councils in working together with the Province.
There is even a handful of current and past councillors and mayors declaring everything to be just swell, while attempting to refute the election results. Like climate change deniers, they fail to acknowledge the evidence that voters in the region are interested to learn how our region might be reviewed and improved. Reviewed and improved -- a basic principle of good management in any public or private sector organization.
Voters have lost patience with money wasted from overspending and squabbling on major regional capital projects, such as sewage and the blue bridge replacement. How much could have been done to solve other important issues with this money?
Fragmented policing and emergency services remain the norm. A local mayor contends that candidates should be forbidden from running in multiple municipalities, while at the same time defending the Capital Regional District (CRD), a decision-making body for the region whose members are there solely to represent their municipality's interests, not the region's -- the ultimate conflict of interest.
And now, a new regional economic development authority has been proposed -- another unelected and unaccountable body funded by municipalities as a sop to what is essentially a problem of municipal fragmentation. At minimum, one might expect this function to be the purview of the existing CRD.
Meanwhile, municipalities continue to go through their parochial planning processes, without proper consultation or due regard to the impact and duplication with neighbouring municipalities. Blame and finger-pointing abound when projects go off the rails. Lessons are learned, they say. But do we learn? Often mistakes are repeated over and over, much to our costly chagrin.
It's past time for Provincial leadership on this issue. Premier Christy Clark and Minister Peter Fassbender must begin a governance study. So far, he has met with local councils and declared there is no consensus among them. While these meetings were necessary, it shouldn't surprise Minister Fassbender that self-interested councils want to maintain the status quo. Power, once achieved, is seldom relinquished lightly. And the Province is acutely aware of the region's governance problems.
The fundamental kernel at the heart of this issue is that the democratic will of the people has been expressed, and it is dissatisfaction with the status quo. The ultimate rulers of democracy are the voters, and we urge the Province and those mayors and councillors to respect the will of the people of this region.
- Tony Heemskerk