Residents of Victoria and Saanich will not just elect their respective mayor and councillors on Saturday. They will also decide whether their two communities will strike a citizens assembly to study the pros and cons of amalgamation.
So SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 election could be one of, if not the last general municipal election that would feature the City of Victoria and the District of Saanich as separate municipalities.
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It is this prospect that looms in the background as voters in both communities face the following question on their respective ballot.
B次元官网网址淎re you in favour of spending up to $250,000 for establishing a CitizensB次元官网网址� Assembly to explore the costs, benefits and disadvantages of the amalgamation between the District of Saanich and the City of Victoria?B次元官网网址�
To be clear: the question itself does not ask whether the two communities should amalgamate, a point several speakers including Coun. Colin Plant stressed during SaanichB次元官网网址檚 sixth and final all-candidates event.
It instead asks residents to approve or reject the creation of a format to study the issue with an open outcome. In short, it could recommend amalgamation, warn against it, or any measure between those two poles.
So the stakes appear high. But if the stakes are high, it is not entirely clear which way voters are leaning.
Shellie Gudgeon, spokesperson for Worth The Study, a third-party group, whose self-stated purpose is to get the B次元官网网址渇actsB次元官网网址� on amalgamation, and president of Amalgamation Yes, a B次元官网网址済rass roots movement of residents who seek to reduce the number of municipalities within Greater Victoria, said she is positive about the outcome. B次元官网网址淲e have worked hard and either way the citizens will have had their say,B次元官网网址� she said.
This said, Gudgeon said the absence of reliable polling makes the outcome difficult to gauge. The educational material for the non-binding referendum also differs across both communities.
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Gudgeon, a former Victoria city councillor, expects the referendum will pass in Victoria. B次元官网网址淗owever as Saanich takes on more and more of the regional issues [like the tent city that has moved in and out of Saanich], they may be at a tipping point and see that better governance is critical.B次元官网网址�
If the referendum fails in Saanich, it wonB次元官网网址檛 be because of incumbent Mayor Richard Atwell. He has not only asked voters to vote for the citizensB次元官网网址� assembly, but also expressed support for a different governance structure. Two of his rivals B次元官网网址� Coun. Fred Haynes and Rob Wickson B次元官网网址� have been less explicit, saying only that the pros and cons of amalgamation will emerge out of the assembly, if approved. A fourth mayoral candidate B次元官网网址� David Shebib B次元官网网址� supports amalgamation, but his voice is unlikely to matter.
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The run-up to SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 referendum certainly suggests that opposition to the citizensB次元官网网址� assembly is higher in Saanich than in Victoria.
Coun. Judy Brownoff B次元官网网址� who has been on council for 22 years and is running for re-election B次元官网网址� voted against approving the question in wondering why the issue appears before voters, pointing to surveys that do not identify regional governance as a major priority.
Coun. Susan Brice, another powerful voice, who is also running for re-election, voted for the question, but warned against the emergence of an all-powerful B次元官网网址楳etroB次元官网网址� government during the final all-candidatesB次元官网网址� forum. Both promised though that they would abide by the outcome.
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Among incumbents, only Coun. Karen Harper has openly expressed support for the citizensB次元官网网址� assembly and amalgamation itself. As for non-incumbents, many have chosen a let-us-wait-and-see approach when it comes to amalgamation. But many also expressed concerns that Saanich, despite being the larger community, could end up on the losing end of amalgamation because of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 debt, environmental concerns and loss of planning control in SaanichB次元官网网址檚 rural areas.
This said, voices on all sides agree that a no-vote in SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 referendum will take the issue of amalgamation off the table for the foreseeable future.
B次元官网网址淚f it fails, it will be at least a decade before it is reconsidered,B次元官网网址� said Gudgeon.
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