An interim report from the group exploring the benefits and disadvantages of amalgamating Saanich and Victoria gives little indication about which way the citizens’ assembly is leaning.
But it does suggest the first four months of work has tried to cover a number of bases as it considers the options.
The report, released last week to mark the halfway point of the Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly’s work in studying the pros, cons and costs of amalgamating the two municipalities, reaches no conclusions but is meant to highlight what the 48-member group has been considering since it was appointed in June.
“The members haven’t reached any conclusions. I don’t think it would be even fair to say they’re leaning in one particular direction,” said chair Peter MacLeod, principal of MASS LBP, the Toronto-based firm hired by the municipalities to run the process.
It does, however, highlight some of the issues the panel has been considering including the hot button issues of housing, affordability, climate change, Indigenous relations and future growth.
“Right now, affordability and housing prices are on everyone’s mind, it is a national crisis,” said MacLeod, noting it makes sense a group that is considering the future of municipalities would turn its mind to the most pressing matters all cities face. “The Citizens’ Assembly I think is a future-oriented exercise. It’s not just about what would work best for today or the next five years. It’s about the next 50 and beyond. So I think it makes perfect sense for people to say ‘how would this affect one of the major crises that all urban areas face right now.’”
The report lays out how the assembly was formed and its activities so far, which has included meetings with the mayors of both districts and the chief administrative officers of Saanich, Victoria and the Capital Regional District, as well as academics and experts on municipal governments and how they work.
The assembly has also taken public submissions and will continue to do so until the end of February.
MacLeod said the next report, due in early January, will be a technical one from consulting firm MNP that will become something of a guidebook for the assembly.
MacLeod said many of the members are keen to see it as it’s a chance to test their own hypotheses about the benefits or the demerits of amalgamation.
The 200-page technical study is intended to be an authoritative report on how both municipalities are currently governed and administered, and how they spend money. It will also consider the implications of amalgamation on core services, governance, and administration.
“Should there be a referendum then it would also inform council’s views of this and be the authoritative account that that could be used to part of a public education effort,” MacLeod said.
The assembly, made up of 27 members from Saanich and 21 from Victoria, was chosen to reflect the population of the two municipalities, with an equal proportion of men and women and proportionate numbers of renters and homeowners, urban and rural residents, and members of First Nations.
The assembly’s recommendations will not be binding for either council, and could include anything from the status quo to full amalgamation, or harmonizing services such as police and fire.
Both councils have committed to putting the recommendations from the citizens’ assembly to voters in a referendum.
If the assembly recommends amalgamation then there will be a public referendum at the next municipal election. If a majority of residents in both municipalities vote in favour of amalgamation, and the province approves, the councils of both municipalities would oversee a transition toward a single unified city.
If the assembly does not recommend amalgamation, it may choose to recommend the two municipalities pursue deeper service integration and shared agreements. That would not be subject to a referendum and councils would decide whether or not to explore those possibilities.
MacLeod said the assembly understands they are not the deciders, but are there to put the most compelling argument forward.
He also noted councils that have bought into the project and spent, in partnership with the province, a combined $750,000 for the work should probably consider the outcome.
“I think it’ll be really incumbent on both councils to take it seriously,” he said. “It’s 48 members strong, we’re larger than the two councils. We are also demographically representative of both communities by a number of really important measures. And I think that gives us a claim to have legitimate standing in this discussion.
“Of course, if the assembly recommends change and the councils agree to request that the province initiate a referendum, it’s going to bring out a lot more voices,” he said.
Note to readers: This story has been updated. A previous version misspelled Peter MacLeod's name.
