While most mayors in Greater Victoria are saying amalgamation is not a priority for their citizens, the results of an Angus Reid poll released Tuesday suggest otherwise.
Who to believe? Neither. Put the issue to the people as a ballot question in this fall鈥檚 municipal elections.
Amalgamation Yes says its poll shows it鈥檚 鈥渙verwhelmingly clear鈥� that capital region residents are 鈥渓argely in favour鈥� of amalgamation, and it has the numbers to back that statement. The results, with a 4.7 per cent margin of error, indicate that the majority of Greater Victorians are in favour of amalgamation and support a non-binding referendum question in the coming election.
鈥淓very municipality was sampled and a strong majority in every district supported the idea of amalgamation,鈥� says a statement from Amalgamation Yes, the short name for the Capital Region Municipal Amalgamation Society, 鈥渁nd highly supported having a non-binding referendum question on amalgamation on their ballots in the upcoming November election.鈥�
Not quite every municipality 鈥� the lone respondent from Highlands was firmly opposed to both amalgamation and the referendum, but one response is statistically irrelevant. Although Amalgamation Yes is correct about the majorities in the individual municipalities, only the Victoria, Saanich and region-wide results have large enough sample sizes to be statistically significant.
Support appears to have grown dramatically over the past decade. A 2003 poll conducted by the sa国际传媒 and CHEK News found 53 per cent of respondents in favour of amalgamation. The Amalgamation Yes poll suggests 84 per cent of capital region residents favour amalgamation and 89 per cent support a non-binding referendum.
Ninety per cent agreed with the statement: 鈥淗aving 13 municipalities and a total of 91 mayors and councillors just doesn鈥檛 make sense,鈥� and 84 per cent agreed that 鈥渃osts for larger projects should be shared by all municipalities.鈥� Seventy-seven per cent disagreed with the statement that 鈥渢he status quo is working.鈥�
The support for amalgamation doesn鈥檛 reflect dissatisfaction with municipal governments 鈥� 77 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with the quality of services provided by their current municipalities. But they are concerned about regional issues, with a strong majority stating that they believe amalgamation would have a positive impact on public transit, garbage and sewage management, and municipal service delivery.
As we have written before, amalgamation isn鈥檛 a magic answer, and it comes with pitfalls. But it鈥檚 clear that people want to see if the region鈥檚 fractured governance can be made more rational, less cumbersome.
That doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean forming one massive regional government, although 25 per cent of the survey鈥檚 respondents favoured that option. Twenty-five per cent favoured four or five municipal governments and 21 per cent said there should be three.
Survey results don鈥檛 always reflect the firm feelings of respondents. The numbers can shift dramatically at the ballot box, as recent election polls prove. The hard numbers gathered in a referendum could either put the issue to rest (for a while, at least 鈥� it will never go away) or facilitate discussion on how to streamline government in the region.
Restructuring the region鈥檚 municipalities would be a complicated process. Amalgamation, whatever form it takes, should be approached cautiously, but at least it should be approached. The ballot question would be that cautious step, asking voters if they want a study on amalgamation.
It鈥檚 hard to escape the suspicion that the only reason to oppose a referendum is fear of the result. No one 鈥� mayor, councillor or taxpayer 鈥� should fear the outcome, unless they fear knowing what the voters really think.
