A quarter-page ad that ran Tuesday in a Victoria newspaper got some of the facts wrong when it declared the Town of View RoyalB次元官网网址檚 intentions for a council meeting that night.

The ad, purchased by the Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation Society, stated B次元官网网址渢he mayor and council of View Royal will be discussing the Amalgamation Yes request to include a non-binding referendum question to study amalgamationB次元官网网址� at the Sept. 16 council meeting. It urged View Royal residents to attend and express their support of adding the question to NovemberB次元官网网址檚 municipal ballot.

However, when asked about the possible discussion, Coun. David Screech said the matter had already been closed.

B次元官网网址淲e were just as surprised (at the ad),B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not on our agenda. It was already discussed at council and we decided we would stick with B次元官网网址榥o.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Jennifer Cochrane, executive assistant for the Town of View Royal, confirmed late Tuesday that further discussion on the referendum question had not been added to the agenda.

John Vickers, vice-president for the society, said the wording in the ad resulted from a misunderstanding.

B次元官网网址淚t was our understanding that all motions from a committee of the whole (meeting) had to be put forward in the minutes and come before council to be approved,B次元官网网址� he said.

The hiccup came because the decision had already been made in July at a previous committee of the whole meeting, said Screech, and the mention of the question in the Sept. 9 meeting arose from previous business.

The initial B次元官网网址榥oB次元官网网址� decision in July came about because council thought it was B次元官网网址渁bsurdB次元官网网址� to have only Victoria and View Royal putting the question on the ballot, said Screech. With Langford and Central Saanich saying yes to a ballot question in the intervening time between JulyB次元官网网址檚 meeting and Sept. 9, Coun. Ron Mattson suggested they revisit the decision in light of the new information.

While not necessarily in favour of amalgamation, Mattson said B次元官网网址渋tB次元官网网址檚 essential that we give the public the opportunity to provide their views on amalgamation.B次元官网网址�

The motion to revisit the B次元官网网址榥oB次元官网网址� vote from July was defeated 3-2, and so the matter was closed, said Screech.

Nonetheless, members of Amalgamation Yes showed up at the council meeting and took advantage of the public question and answer period to bring up the matter of the question again.

B次元官网网址淭hey just received the reply that the decision had been made to not include the question,B次元官网网址� Screech said.

acowan@goldstreamgazette.com