The strong support given amalgamation questions in the municipal election should not be taken as a vote for amalgamation, but as confirmation that the people want the issue explored in a rational and focused way. It鈥檚 up to the province to provide the leadership needed to ensure that happens.
Amalgamation has been talked about in the capital region as long as there have been multiple municipalities, but it鈥檚 just empty talk without a thorough official study.
Community Minister Coralee Oakes has promised that study, and while it鈥檚 still too early to know how that study will proceed, it鈥檚 not too early to establish parameters and a firm direction.
It will be hard work, Oakes acknowledges. It will be complex; it will be difficult. And she鈥檚 right 鈥� it would be foolish to believe there are easy answers or magic solutions.
It鈥檚 a little worrying that she has promised staff and resources to communities interested in looking at amalgamation. If that means simply handing the issue back to municipalities, it would be a grave error. Mayors and councils were brought grudgingly to this point; there鈥檚 no reason to believe municipal governments will move the issue forward on their own.
It鈥檚 vital that municipalities be involved in the process, but this is an issue that screams for input from the other side, from all sides. One factor in the recent election was the perception that the capital region suffers from a lack of public consultation. The province should take pains not to reinforce that perception by limiting who is involved in the study.
Amalgamation is not necessarily the way to go. While the support for studying the issue is broad, there doesn鈥檛 appear to be wide support for melding the region鈥檚 13 municipalities into one entity. It鈥檚 a moot point, in any case 鈥� the province has promised that amalgamation will not be forced on any municipality.
Various combinations have been suggested, one being that the 13 municipalities would become three, divided somewhat along the lines of the school districts. There could be other configurations; the ballot question put to voters in Central Saanich, North Saanich and Sidney was to explore the idea of making those three municipalities into one, and support for that exploration was strong.
Amalgamations in other areas are frequently brought up. Toronto, Halifax and Montreal are cited as regions where amalgamation did not bring promised benefits. But there are positive examples. Kamloops, which had amalgamated with North Kamloops in 1967, was forced by the province to amalgamate with outlying areas in 1973. It has worked.
The amalgamation experience in other areas could inspire questions that should be asked here, but what has happened elsewhere should not determine what happens in Greater Victoria. Each region has its own set of unique circumstances.
The study should not begin with any assumptions. It should not assume amalgamation is good; neither should it assume amalgamation is bad. Its focus should be to gather information, calculating costs and savings, but not ignoring people鈥檚 feelings.
The province needs to be firm and fair in gathering information that will allow informed decisions. It needs to be neutral and stay far above regional rivalries and old grudges. The process should be guided by what is right, not who is right. It should be conducted with the interests of the people foremost in mind, not with an eye on the next election.
No one needs to fear the process, because regardless of the outcome, nothing can change without the consent of the people through a referendum.
And when that time comes, the question put to the voters should be direct and unambiguous, drafted with the sole intent of determining the public鈥檚 wishes, not of influencing a particular outcome.
