Majorities in seven of eight municipalities voted to amalgamate or study the possibility. Local and provincial politicians must now act.
Although Oak Bay voted strongly against amalgamation, voters in the other seven municipalities marked their ballots in favour of something amalgamation-related. The 88.5 per cent yes vote in Saanich is a resounding repudiation of defeated Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard鈥檚 oft-repeated contention that there was no swell of support for unification.
It鈥檚 not surprising that residents of Victoria voted 79.95 per cent in favour of studying amalgamation. Victoria has long been tired of carrying more than its share of the freight and cleaning up after the party-goers from other municipalities. More surprising were the favourable votes in Langford and Saanich.
Mayors and councils can no longer argue, as they have for decades, that their voters are not interested even in studying amalgamation. Now both sides have something more than anecdotes and opinion polls to back up their arguments.
Eight of the 13 municipalities had amalgamation-related questions on their ballots on Saturday. To the dismay of anyone trying to make sense of the issue, the questions were different.
Amalgamation Yes, whose name says clearly where its members stand, wanted to ask voters if they favoured having the provincial government fund an independent study of the pros and cons of amalgamation.
The eight councils, however, tinkered with the concept. Some asked about amalgamation, some about a study, some about governance reviews. The three Peninsula municipalities asked only about a study of amalgamation among themselves.
Regardless of the way politicians tried to torture the question, the majority opinion is clear. The results are not a vote in favour of amalgamation, but they are in favour of gathering unbiased information so residents can make a decision based on solid facts.
The voters of Greater Victoria have spoken. Mayors, councillors and the provincial government must listen. The province must commission an independent study of the pros and cons of amalgamation, so we have the facts we need to decide our future.
