This is what democracy looks like:
The Duncan-North Cowichan Citizens' Assembly
I recently attended the second of two Public Roundtable meetings of the Duncan-North Cowichan Citizens' Assembly held at the Island Savings Centre, North Cowichan on April 6, 2017. (The first Public Roundtable meeting was held on February 2, 2017).
Both municipal CAOs and a couple of councillors were present at the meeting (as observers only), and approximately 40 citizens.
The Chair of the Citizens' Assembly, Mr. Peter MacLeod of MASS LBP gave an overview of the work done to date, including a review of the Interim Report, dated March 8, 2017. He went over the 35 questions contained in the Interim report and outlined the process, from the successful non-binding referendum through to a potential binding referendum at some future date.
The Chair outlined the seven values guiding the Citizens' Assembly in their work. The Assembly values local government that:
• Is efficient and cost-effective
• Provides quality services and infrastructure
• Promotes public engagement
• Exercises environmental stewardship
• Is collaborative
• Is accessible, accountable, and approachable
• Is respectful of local differences
He gave a short outline of the history of the area:
1873 - District Municipality of North Cowichan was formed (the fourth in BC)
1912 - City of Duncan split off and incorporated
1967 - Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) was formed
2017 - Citizens’ Assembly was formed
The Chair also covered potential one-time costs of amalgamation, Provincial funding that might be available, and staff considerations (an amalgamated municipality would probably need as many workers as the two municipalities currently, but with potentially less managers). He spoke of harmonizing property taxes, predicting that North Cowichan property taxes (both residential and business) might go up while Duncan taxes might go down.
One member of the public expressed concern about giving more services over to the CVRD, based on significant annual tax increases imposed by the CVRD and how the same might happen with an amalgamated municipality.
The Chair outlined the following advantages of merging Duncan and North Cowichan:
- Greater consistency to planning and area priorities
- By-Law harmonization and coordinated land use planning
- A single municipality could speak to the Province with one voice.
The Chair also stated that amalgamation is not a panacea, and there are many issues that are unaffected by municipal structure. Whether amalgamated or separate, future municipal councils can still be either more or less effective. The real question is whether the two communities want to make decisions about their future together.
Citizens at tables then began discussions. Their task was to discuss and then report back to the main body their opinions on the following:
- to determine what are the benefits and drawbacks of amalgamation
- how would Duncan residents and businesses benefit or not benefit from amalgamation
- how would North Cowichan residents and businesses benefit or not benefit from amalgamation
- what would you like us to share or explain in our report? What do you need to know to have confidence in our recommendation.
Long term Abbotsford Councillor Patricia Ross attended and spoke to the second Citizens’ Assembly meeting on February 4, 2017. She spoke candidly about her own experience with amalgamation. The City of Abbotsford and the District of Matsqui amalgamated in 1996. Her story was a positive one, “We were already living together, and it just made sense to get married”. As a councillor, she has found that being a larger municipality has helped Abbotsford to attract more businesses and support from senior levels of government.
The Duncan-North Cowichan public process is entirely different from the process in Greater Victoria. In the former, the two municipalities co-operated in asking complementary questions on the ballots (asking residents if they supported funding a study to investigate amalgamation). In the latter Greater Victoria process, 5 of 13 municipalities refused outright to pose a question to their citizens. Of the 8 municipalities (comprising 87% of the population) that agreed to give their citizens a voice on the matter, 75% of those citizens voted YES, despite the fact that municipalities would not cooperate to pose a common question.
A majority of voters in Duncan-North Cowichan indicated support. The two councils then debated next steps, successfully applied to the Province for funding, and created a 36 member Citizen’s Assembly. Assembly members were selected through a blind selection process from residents of both municipalities. Invitations were mailed to 10,000 randomly selected households from which 36 candidates were randomly selected from the pool of respondents in such a way as to broadly match the make-up of local residents.
With the Duncan-North Cowichan process, the Citizens’ Assembly controls the process, unlike the Greater Victoria model where the local councils control the Capital Integrated Services and Governance Initiative with the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, and the report that has not been shared with the residents of Greater Victoria.
The discussion that followed the roundtables indicated that most of those present supported the work of the Duncan-North Cowichan Citizens' Assembly and saw more positives from amalgamation than negatives. I was invited to sit in with one of the table groups and I was impressed with the public involvement, even though the number of people that attended this well publicized meeting was relatively small.
- Colin Nielsen
The Duncan-North Cowichan Citizens' Assembly
I recently attended the second of two Public Roundtable meetings of the Duncan-North Cowichan Citizens' Assembly held at the Island Savings Centre, North Cowichan on April 6, 2017. (The first Public Roundtable meeting was held on February 2, 2017).
Both municipal CAOs and a couple of councillors were present at the meeting (as observers only), and approximately 40 citizens.
The Chair of the Citizens' Assembly, Mr. Peter MacLeod of MASS LBP gave an overview of the work done to date, including a review of the Interim Report, dated March 8, 2017. He went over the 35 questions contained in the Interim report and outlined the process, from the successful non-binding referendum through to a potential binding referendum at some future date.
The Chair outlined the seven values guiding the Citizens' Assembly in their work. The Assembly values local government that:
• Is efficient and cost-effective
• Provides quality services and infrastructure
• Promotes public engagement
• Exercises environmental stewardship
• Is collaborative
• Is accessible, accountable, and approachable
• Is respectful of local differences
He gave a short outline of the history of the area:
1873 - District Municipality of North Cowichan was formed (the fourth in BC)
1912 - City of Duncan split off and incorporated
1967 - Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) was formed
2017 - Citizens’ Assembly was formed
The Chair also covered potential one-time costs of amalgamation, Provincial funding that might be available, and staff considerations (an amalgamated municipality would probably need as many workers as the two municipalities currently, but with potentially less managers). He spoke of harmonizing property taxes, predicting that North Cowichan property taxes (both residential and business) might go up while Duncan taxes might go down.
One member of the public expressed concern about giving more services over to the CVRD, based on significant annual tax increases imposed by the CVRD and how the same might happen with an amalgamated municipality.
The Chair outlined the following advantages of merging Duncan and North Cowichan:
- Greater consistency to planning and area priorities
- By-Law harmonization and coordinated land use planning
- A single municipality could speak to the Province with one voice.
The Chair also stated that amalgamation is not a panacea, and there are many issues that are unaffected by municipal structure. Whether amalgamated or separate, future municipal councils can still be either more or less effective. The real question is whether the two communities want to make decisions about their future together.
Citizens at tables then began discussions. Their task was to discuss and then report back to the main body their opinions on the following:
- to determine what are the benefits and drawbacks of amalgamation
- how would Duncan residents and businesses benefit or not benefit from amalgamation
- how would North Cowichan residents and businesses benefit or not benefit from amalgamation
- what would you like us to share or explain in our report? What do you need to know to have confidence in our recommendation.
Long term Abbotsford Councillor Patricia Ross attended and spoke to the second Citizens’ Assembly meeting on February 4, 2017. She spoke candidly about her own experience with amalgamation. The City of Abbotsford and the District of Matsqui amalgamated in 1996. Her story was a positive one, “We were already living together, and it just made sense to get married”. As a councillor, she has found that being a larger municipality has helped Abbotsford to attract more businesses and support from senior levels of government.
The Duncan-North Cowichan public process is entirely different from the process in Greater Victoria. In the former, the two municipalities co-operated in asking complementary questions on the ballots (asking residents if they supported funding a study to investigate amalgamation). In the latter Greater Victoria process, 5 of 13 municipalities refused outright to pose a question to their citizens. Of the 8 municipalities (comprising 87% of the population) that agreed to give their citizens a voice on the matter, 75% of those citizens voted YES, despite the fact that municipalities would not cooperate to pose a common question.
A majority of voters in Duncan-North Cowichan indicated support. The two councils then debated next steps, successfully applied to the Province for funding, and created a 36 member Citizen’s Assembly. Assembly members were selected through a blind selection process from residents of both municipalities. Invitations were mailed to 10,000 randomly selected households from which 36 candidates were randomly selected from the pool of respondents in such a way as to broadly match the make-up of local residents.
With the Duncan-North Cowichan process, the Citizens’ Assembly controls the process, unlike the Greater Victoria model where the local councils control the Capital Integrated Services and Governance Initiative with the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, and the report that has not been shared with the residents of Greater Victoria.
The discussion that followed the roundtables indicated that most of those present supported the work of the Duncan-North Cowichan Citizens' Assembly and saw more positives from amalgamation than negatives. I was invited to sit in with one of the table groups and I was impressed with the public involvement, even though the number of people that attended this well publicized meeting was relatively small.
- Colin Nielsen