PROVINCIAL CAPITAL CITY COMPARISONS ACROSS CANADA
Statistically, the City of Victoria lags behind its 9 counterpart Provincial Capital cities across Canada in representation in the provincial legislature. Victoria has the smallest percentage of the Provincial population (see Column E below) within its municipal boundaries and Victoria has the smallest number of elected officials whose constituencies are fully within the Capital city or partially within the Capital city. Thus, Victoria has the smallest percentage of elected Provincial officials -- Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) -- representing it and its citizens in the BC Legislature.
This situation severely limits Victoria's ability to obtain funding for municipal infrastructure projects, such as the Johnson St. bridge, which received no Provincial funding. Unlike several other Provincial capital cities, Victoria owns and operates its own conference centre, major recreational facilities and lacks the ability to seek major arts and cultural facilities funding from the Provincial Government. This is, at least in part, due to the very limited number of MLAs representing the City. These MLAs represent the ridings of:
- Victoria-Beacon Hill (entirely within the City of Victoria
- Victoria-Swan Lake (partly in the City of Victoria and partly in the District of Saanich)
A unified core (Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt and Victoria) would increase the BC Capital city population to 224,000
(Esquimalt 16,209,Victoria 80,017, Saanich 109,752, Oak Bay 18,015 - 2011 Canadian Census)
Such a merger would increase Victoria's percentage of the Provincial population to 5.1% (from 1.8%) and would increase the number of MLAs representing the merged city from 2 to 5, and provide a stronger voice within the Provincial Legislature.
Statistically, the City of Victoria lags behind its 9 counterpart Provincial Capital cities across Canada in representation in the provincial legislature. Victoria has the smallest percentage of the Provincial population (see Column E below) within its municipal boundaries and Victoria has the smallest number of elected officials whose constituencies are fully within the Capital city or partially within the Capital city. Thus, Victoria has the smallest percentage of elected Provincial officials -- Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) -- representing it and its citizens in the BC Legislature.
This situation severely limits Victoria's ability to obtain funding for municipal infrastructure projects, such as the Johnson St. bridge, which received no Provincial funding. Unlike several other Provincial capital cities, Victoria owns and operates its own conference centre, major recreational facilities and lacks the ability to seek major arts and cultural facilities funding from the Provincial Government. This is, at least in part, due to the very limited number of MLAs representing the City. These MLAs represent the ridings of:
- Victoria-Beacon Hill (entirely within the City of Victoria
- Victoria-Swan Lake (partly in the City of Victoria and partly in the District of Saanich)
A unified core (Saanich, Oak Bay, Esquimalt and Victoria) would increase the BC Capital city population to 224,000
(Esquimalt 16,209,Victoria 80,017, Saanich 109,752, Oak Bay 18,015 - 2011 Canadian Census)
Such a merger would increase Victoria's percentage of the Provincial population to 5.1% (from 1.8%) and would increase the number of MLAs representing the merged city from 2 to 5, and provide a stronger voice within the Provincial Legislature.
