An interim report from the Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly sheds light on the factors being weighed in the potential amalgamation of the two municipalities.
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 McLeod, 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 McLeod, 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 wor
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