When 2013 shuffles into history, it will leave behind plenty of unfinished business. In Greater Victoria, the agenda for 2014 features some classic issues that are familiar to anyone who has lived here for more than a few months.
Some lurk in the wings, waiting for their cue to take centre stage. The replacement for Victoria鈥檚 Blue Bridge falls in that category. Unless something goes seriously wrong, it鈥檚 unlikely to be an issue until it is completed in 2015. Then we can argue over whether or not we like the finished product.
Some issues seem to be in our faces constantly. Rarely a day passes that the sewage-treatment project fails to make headlines and generate heated letters to the editor.
Others, such as municipal amalgamation, never really go away. Amalgamation bubbles to the surface every so often, and with 2014 being a municipal election year, the pot is already starting to simmer.
Still others are less obvious to the casual observer. In that category, list transit. It鈥檚 a constant headache for regional politicians, but goes largely unnoticed by those who don鈥檛 ride the bus.
Thanks to the group Amalgamation Yes, area politicians will have to say something about the perennial issue in the run-up to the elections in November 鈥� even though most of them probably wish it would vanish.
So far, however, only Victoria and Colwood have agreed to put it on the ballot. Central Saanich said no, North Saanich simply received the request and Saanich鈥檚 Frank Leonard, mayor of the largest municipality, says he has no interest.
Greater Victoria councils have to show some backbone and put the question to their voters. If they don鈥檛 like Amalgamation Yes鈥檚 version of the question, then they can write another. But the same question should be on all ballots in the capital region.
Putting the question on the ballot doesn鈥檛 imply that a council supports amalgamation. It is a matter of letting the people have their say, with a question about whether voters support the idea of reducing the number of municipalities from 13 to some smaller figure.
Those mayors and councillors who oppose amalgamation are fond of saying their voters tell them they don鈥檛 want anything to do with it. If so, there should be nothing to fear from a ballot question. This issue has dragged on for decades; give voters a chance to be heard in the only poll that counts.
On transit, voters are rarely heard unless taxes go up or service goes down, but it affects almost everyone in the area, whether they take the bus or not. As with policing, it is an issue that cries out for a regional approach.
Much of the growth in the West Shore has been tied to the expansion of sewer service, which has kept pace with the rush of new residents. Transit should also keep pace, but it hasn鈥檛.
Victoria and Saanich are moving ahead with priority bus lanes along Douglas Street. Something similar could ease congestion along the Trans-sa国际传媒 Highway and into West Shore, but the province and the municipalities must step up to make that happen.
Of course, creating a transit system that works for the whole region takes more than just co-operation. As with sewage treatment, it takes money.
Finding that money is a problem that is only getting worse. Municipalities are already feeling the pinch of sewage treatment costs. Some are proposing separate fees so tax bills won鈥檛 jump alarmingly.
Property taxpayers, however, are reaching the limits of what they can afford. Instead of piling more onto the bills, councils will have to look for things to give up.
And in 2014, that could be a bigger headache than the old familiar ones.
