Critique of Governing Greater Victoria, Dr. Robert Bish, Fraser Institute, March 2016
BACKGROUND:
Dr. Robert Bish has been an ardent campaigner against amalgamation in Canada. His views are based on his assessment of available academic research, much of it originating from United States. He is known nationally as a vocal supporter of keeping municipal governments small.
In March 2016, the Fraser Institute published the report Governing Greater Victoria, authored by Dr. Robert Bish.
The Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation Society, whose trademark name is Amalgamation Yes, has the goal of achieving effective and accountable local governance in the Capital Region District (CRD). The following comments on the Fraser Institute report are offered.
1. Cost effective local government?
The Fraser Institute report contends that the current system of 13 municipalities and the CRD is a representative, flexible, and cost effective form of government, and that amalgamation into one city would be costly and ineffective
The report states that multiple local governments are served by inexpensive elected officials who provide greater community participation and opportunities for shared services. The report provides statistics on the cost of local officials, election costs, and the number of municipal staff earning in excess of $75,000 per annum in comparative jurisdictions.
However, the report includes data that demonstrates the annual cost per capita of delivering municipal services in the CRD is $2,079, much higher than large municipalities such as Burnaby ($1,817), Coquitlam ($1,698) and Surrey ($1,485).
Further, it is noteworthy that secondary sewage treatment is included in the annual per capita costs of these Lower Mainland municipalities, whereas the costs for the CRD do not. CRD sewage treatment capital construction and operating costs are still pending.
The per capita data does not support the contention that the current municipal structure in the CRD offers significant economic advantages.
2. Access to decision-makers
The report contends that the existence of 91 elected mayors and councillors in the CRD ensures better access to decision-makers than in larger municipalities, and that this level of access is necessary for effective municipal governance.
However, there is no supporting data, nor an investigation of the neighbourhood associations or ward systems in larger municipalities. The report's conclusion, that a ratio of 3,800 citizens to each elected official is necessary to provide access to the governance system, is unproven. Indeed, the national average of citizens per elected official is 35,000 and the well-run municipality of Surrey has 57,000 citizens per elected official.
3. Police and public safety
The report cites the joint policing agreement between the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, whereby Saanich Police provide “serious crime investigation and forensic services” as an example of an “excellent” working agreement for the integration of municipal police services.
However, the report fails to make reference to the 2007 murder/suicide of the Lee/Park family in Oak Bay. The wife called 911 as her husband was on a rampage, threatening the lives of her and her family. The call was misdirected to the Victoria police dispatch centre and officers from three police departments attended. While they sorted out who had authority on the sidewalk in front of the Lee residence, 5 murder/suicides were committed in the home.
It is inconceivable that anyone could read the Report of the Coroner on this horrendous crime, and consider the policing agreement in Oak Bay, or policing in Greater Victoria, to be remotely satisfactory.
Since that time, former BC Attorney General Wally Opal, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the Missing Women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, recommended a regional police force for Greater Victoria.
Kash Heed, former BC Solicitor General and Chief of West Vancouver Police, has called the integrated model “a Band-Aid solution to a gaping wound” and also said “integration is a failed policy that fuels conflict rather than co-operation” among other criticisms. Meanwhile in Greater Victoria, the regional integrated policing unit was disbanded when municipal funds were withdrawn.1
Further, in the report A Review of Victoria Police Department Operations,2 Dr. Darryl Plecas, criminologist and serving MLA studied the Victoria/Esquimalt Police Board and recommended a single regional police force, calling it a “no brainer” and declaring the existing multiple police departments to be ineffective and costly.
And finally, another Fraser Institute report Police and Crime Rates in Canada3 highlights Greater Victoria as having one of the least efficient policing regimes in Canada.
4. Transportation
The report identifies transportation as a specific unresolved problem in the CRD and recommends a melding of transportation and highway planning. Such a combination of functions would achieve little within the current municipal structure.
The recent history of bridge and roadway construction in the CRD are prime examples (Craigflower and Blue Bridges) where the municipalities benefiting directly from these new structures made no financial contribution to their construction.
The report offers no solution to this problem of unfair burdens placed on municipalities without any compensation from neighbouring municipalities.
5. Secondary sewage treatment
The report refers to the failure of the CRD to obtain approval to construct a secondary sewage treatment plant in Esquimalt, and suggests that more economic incentives should have been offered to Esquimalt. The report fails to acknowledge that this approach was tried and failed. Esquimalt has continued to exercise its municipal jurisdiction over land use, regardless of how this results in extra costs to their own and regional residents.
The report makes no reference to the $70+ million wasted by the CRD on the sewage project over the last decade, with no success on siting or starting the project. Currently, site selections are still underway that could result in hundreds of millions in excess costs beyond the base cost of the facility -- all due to municipal squabbling over sites.
6. CRD Board reform
The report recommends that consideration be given to legislative changes that would require the Chair of the CRD to be directly elected by residents of the region. It is unclear how this suggestion would solve the long list of the outstanding governance issues in the region. Decisions are made by all board member votes, the majority of whom would continue to be appointed, not elected, to represent the interests of their municipalities as now. This fundamental contradiction results in failed decision making and is both costly and inefficient.
7. Why not split larger municipalities in smaller ones?
The logical extension of the conclusions of the report is that the quality and effectiveness of municipal governance in British Columbia would improve if large municipalities, such as Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby and Surrey, were dissolved and be replaced by 16 or 17 smaller municipalities, each with a separate city hall and administration. By extension, Victoria and Saanich could be split up and 10 additional municipalities added, for a total of 23 in the CRD. Would this improve local governance?
8. Further study
The report suggests a number of studies should be undertaken to further determine the effectiveness of governance in the CRD, including benchmarking analysis, comparative analysis of private and public services, comparative performance studies and fiscal balance studies.
While these studies are important, clearly a more critical, independent study must be undertaken of municipal and regional governance in the CRD. Such a study will determine if changes should be made, particularly as the Fraser Institute report offers no resolution of the chronic inability of the current fragmented governance system to adequately provide effective critical services such as transportation, sewage treatment, and public safety.
9. Amalgamation
The report states that amalgamations can be more expensive than anticipated. However, it does not provide information on how amalgamated cities, such as Halifax, have fared once amalgamation is entrenched. Halifax is now a vibrant and fiscally sound amalgamated community. Today the report author would be hard pressed to find any Halifax councillors who agree with his assessment of their amalgamation.
The report refers to one large amalgamated city, compared to the status quo. In the CRD there are a number of amalgamation possibilities, including one, three, four or more municipalities. The report does not consider other unification options. Only further study will determine the optimal configuration and give the electorate the right to vote for their preference.
SUMMARY:
The Fraser Institute report continues to support the status quo at the municipal level, while recommending some minor changes to regional decision making. Further, the report contains evidence that confirms the existing fragmented municipal system is expensive when considering cost per capita.
The report does concede that there are unsolved governance issues in the areas listed below, but offers no effective solutions to these problems. (Emergency services was not mentioned, but should be included.)
Clearly, an impartial governance study of the region is critical to identify options for change that will ensure cost-effectiveness, accessibility, accountability and quality of services.
Earle Anthony, Secretary
Amalgamation Yes
May 2016
1 Capital's regional police force unit unfolds as Saanich pulls funding, Times Colonist, May 20, 2014
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/capital-s-regional-police-unit-folds-as-saanich-pulls-funding-1.1068979
2 A Review of Victoria Police Department Operations (2012)
http://www.amalgamationyes.ca/a-review-of-victoria-police-department-operations.html
3 Police and Crime Rates in Canada, Fraser Institute, 2014
http://www.amalgamationyes.ca/police-and-crime-rates-in-canada-fraser-institute-september-2014.html
BACKGROUND:
Dr. Robert Bish has been an ardent campaigner against amalgamation in Canada. His views are based on his assessment of available academic research, much of it originating from United States. He is known nationally as a vocal supporter of keeping municipal governments small.
In March 2016, the Fraser Institute published the report Governing Greater Victoria, authored by Dr. Robert Bish.
The Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation Society, whose trademark name is Amalgamation Yes, has the goal of achieving effective and accountable local governance in the Capital Region District (CRD). The following comments on the Fraser Institute report are offered.
1. Cost effective local government?
The Fraser Institute report contends that the current system of 13 municipalities and the CRD is a representative, flexible, and cost effective form of government, and that amalgamation into one city would be costly and ineffective
The report states that multiple local governments are served by inexpensive elected officials who provide greater community participation and opportunities for shared services. The report provides statistics on the cost of local officials, election costs, and the number of municipal staff earning in excess of $75,000 per annum in comparative jurisdictions.
However, the report includes data that demonstrates the annual cost per capita of delivering municipal services in the CRD is $2,079, much higher than large municipalities such as Burnaby ($1,817), Coquitlam ($1,698) and Surrey ($1,485).
Further, it is noteworthy that secondary sewage treatment is included in the annual per capita costs of these Lower Mainland municipalities, whereas the costs for the CRD do not. CRD sewage treatment capital construction and operating costs are still pending.
The per capita data does not support the contention that the current municipal structure in the CRD offers significant economic advantages.
2. Access to decision-makers
The report contends that the existence of 91 elected mayors and councillors in the CRD ensures better access to decision-makers than in larger municipalities, and that this level of access is necessary for effective municipal governance.
However, there is no supporting data, nor an investigation of the neighbourhood associations or ward systems in larger municipalities. The report's conclusion, that a ratio of 3,800 citizens to each elected official is necessary to provide access to the governance system, is unproven. Indeed, the national average of citizens per elected official is 35,000 and the well-run municipality of Surrey has 57,000 citizens per elected official.
3. Police and public safety
The report cites the joint policing agreement between the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, whereby Saanich Police provide “serious crime investigation and forensic services” as an example of an “excellent” working agreement for the integration of municipal police services.
However, the report fails to make reference to the 2007 murder/suicide of the Lee/Park family in Oak Bay. The wife called 911 as her husband was on a rampage, threatening the lives of her and her family. The call was misdirected to the Victoria police dispatch centre and officers from three police departments attended. While they sorted out who had authority on the sidewalk in front of the Lee residence, 5 murder/suicides were committed in the home.
It is inconceivable that anyone could read the Report of the Coroner on this horrendous crime, and consider the policing agreement in Oak Bay, or policing in Greater Victoria, to be remotely satisfactory.
Since that time, former BC Attorney General Wally Opal, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the Missing Women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, recommended a regional police force for Greater Victoria.
Kash Heed, former BC Solicitor General and Chief of West Vancouver Police, has called the integrated model “a Band-Aid solution to a gaping wound” and also said “integration is a failed policy that fuels conflict rather than co-operation” among other criticisms. Meanwhile in Greater Victoria, the regional integrated policing unit was disbanded when municipal funds were withdrawn.1
Further, in the report A Review of Victoria Police Department Operations,2 Dr. Darryl Plecas, criminologist and serving MLA studied the Victoria/Esquimalt Police Board and recommended a single regional police force, calling it a “no brainer” and declaring the existing multiple police departments to be ineffective and costly.
And finally, another Fraser Institute report Police and Crime Rates in Canada3 highlights Greater Victoria as having one of the least efficient policing regimes in Canada.
4. Transportation
The report identifies transportation as a specific unresolved problem in the CRD and recommends a melding of transportation and highway planning. Such a combination of functions would achieve little within the current municipal structure.
The recent history of bridge and roadway construction in the CRD are prime examples (Craigflower and Blue Bridges) where the municipalities benefiting directly from these new structures made no financial contribution to their construction.
The report offers no solution to this problem of unfair burdens placed on municipalities without any compensation from neighbouring municipalities.
5. Secondary sewage treatment
The report refers to the failure of the CRD to obtain approval to construct a secondary sewage treatment plant in Esquimalt, and suggests that more economic incentives should have been offered to Esquimalt. The report fails to acknowledge that this approach was tried and failed. Esquimalt has continued to exercise its municipal jurisdiction over land use, regardless of how this results in extra costs to their own and regional residents.
The report makes no reference to the $70+ million wasted by the CRD on the sewage project over the last decade, with no success on siting or starting the project. Currently, site selections are still underway that could result in hundreds of millions in excess costs beyond the base cost of the facility -- all due to municipal squabbling over sites.
6. CRD Board reform
The report recommends that consideration be given to legislative changes that would require the Chair of the CRD to be directly elected by residents of the region. It is unclear how this suggestion would solve the long list of the outstanding governance issues in the region. Decisions are made by all board member votes, the majority of whom would continue to be appointed, not elected, to represent the interests of their municipalities as now. This fundamental contradiction results in failed decision making and is both costly and inefficient.
7. Why not split larger municipalities in smaller ones?
The logical extension of the conclusions of the report is that the quality and effectiveness of municipal governance in British Columbia would improve if large municipalities, such as Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby and Surrey, were dissolved and be replaced by 16 or 17 smaller municipalities, each with a separate city hall and administration. By extension, Victoria and Saanich could be split up and 10 additional municipalities added, for a total of 23 in the CRD. Would this improve local governance?
8. Further study
The report suggests a number of studies should be undertaken to further determine the effectiveness of governance in the CRD, including benchmarking analysis, comparative analysis of private and public services, comparative performance studies and fiscal balance studies.
While these studies are important, clearly a more critical, independent study must be undertaken of municipal and regional governance in the CRD. Such a study will determine if changes should be made, particularly as the Fraser Institute report offers no resolution of the chronic inability of the current fragmented governance system to adequately provide effective critical services such as transportation, sewage treatment, and public safety.
9. Amalgamation
The report states that amalgamations can be more expensive than anticipated. However, it does not provide information on how amalgamated cities, such as Halifax, have fared once amalgamation is entrenched. Halifax is now a vibrant and fiscally sound amalgamated community. Today the report author would be hard pressed to find any Halifax councillors who agree with his assessment of their amalgamation.
The report refers to one large amalgamated city, compared to the status quo. In the CRD there are a number of amalgamation possibilities, including one, three, four or more municipalities. The report does not consider other unification options. Only further study will determine the optimal configuration and give the electorate the right to vote for their preference.
SUMMARY:
The Fraser Institute report continues to support the status quo at the municipal level, while recommending some minor changes to regional decision making. Further, the report contains evidence that confirms the existing fragmented municipal system is expensive when considering cost per capita.
The report does concede that there are unsolved governance issues in the areas listed below, but offers no effective solutions to these problems. (Emergency services was not mentioned, but should be included.)
- Capital Region District Board decision-making (e.g. sewage)
- Transportation and transit
- Municipal inefficiency
- Free rider problem (regional costs borne by Victoria)
Clearly, an impartial governance study of the region is critical to identify options for change that will ensure cost-effectiveness, accessibility, accountability and quality of services.
Earle Anthony, Secretary
Amalgamation Yes
May 2016
1 Capital's regional police force unit unfolds as Saanich pulls funding, Times Colonist, May 20, 2014
http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/capital-s-regional-police-unit-folds-as-saanich-pulls-funding-1.1068979
2 A Review of Victoria Police Department Operations (2012)
http://www.amalgamationyes.ca/a-review-of-victoria-police-department-operations.html
3 Police and Crime Rates in Canada, Fraser Institute, 2014
http://www.amalgamationyes.ca/police-and-crime-rates-in-canada-fraser-institute-september-2014.html