Our community deserves a seat at the Big City Mayors’ table

For years Greater Victoria has tried unsuccessfully to get a regular voice with the prime minister, cabinet and the federal government.

So it’s encouraging that the Chair Colin Plant of the Capital Regional District made a notice of motion on July 10 to lobby the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for membership in the powerful Big City Mayors’ Caucus. It’s the elite forum for Canada’s biggest cities – balkanized Greater Victoria currently doesn’t yet qualify as a big city – to impact policy development for a wide range of issues affecting our lives.

Perhaps the game changer this time around will be the proposal to share the seat between the mayor of Victoria and Saanich on a two-year rotating basis. Discussions will continue between those two parties this summer prior to CRD and FCM board meetings in September.

Are membership prospects for our community joining this influential group of 23 mayors better this time around? If successful will governance in the region improve? Who will best represent our interests?

There are compelling arguments for membership.

The CRD tried to gain a regional membership in 2016, but was rebuffed by the FCM after guidelines for membership were reviewed. Another attempt was made in 2017 by the CRD on the peculiar basis that the Victoria mayor represented a census metropolitan area of 350,000.

The CRD now has a rapidly growing population of more than 453,000. It’s more or close to seven members which include Regina, Saskatoon, Kitchener, Gatineau, Longueuil, Laval and St. John’s.

About 100,000 souls live in Victoria and 125,000 in Saanich, the two largest jurisdictions, according to CRD estimates. Some 400,000 souls live in the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) ranking second in the province and 16th in Canada. Presumably, the FCM brass knows a provincial capital is part of our larger community.

Not surprisingly, the region experiences similar challenges of other large Canadian cities and wants to raise its voice.

The national body lobbies on housing, climate and sustainability, infrastructure, public safety and transportation, among other challenges. Of note, it has an ‘economic solutions’ task force for Western Canada.

If that doesn’t convince the FCM board, consider the regional district and a majority of its membership participates in the FCM and pays dues. (By the way, Chris Coleman, a longtime Victoria councillor is the only representative from the South Island).

Meanwhile, the Citizens Assembly is looking into the pros and cons of amalgamating jurisdictions and is just getting underway and is expected to report findings next year. The odds of getting membership in the Caucus might then improve, but who knows if Victoria and Saanich will ever consolidate. In any case, it’s quite a few years in the future.

At least a rotating arrangement allows for a broader representation from the two largest jurisdictions with their combined population of 225,000. Since both mayors sit on the CRD board, they are sensitive to other regional interests.

However, the marginal electoral legitimacy of the 24-member CRD board – directors are never elected by all residents in the region – is another matter.

For municipalities, the formula is one director for every 25,000 population (or portion thereof). For electoral areas, citizens elect one director to the board during general local elections.

By virtue of their position, all 13 mayors usually sit on the board, but other directors may or may not be elected to the position by their residents. The top three municipal election vote getters from Victoria sit on the board, and in Saanich, the top four.

In our view, the only public official with adequate legitimacy to represent the region is the chair of the CRD. With all due respect, the mayors of Victoria and Saanich represent large neighbourhoods.

The CRD board currently votes for the chair. It would be interesting to know the repercussions if the chair was elected by all residents in the region. That’s an option even vocal opponents of changes to regional government, such as well-respected academic Robert Bish, agree deserves consideration.

Perhaps it will be considered by the District of Nanaimo and other municipalities which are trying to create a Union of BC Municipalities working group to consider reform to calcified municipal legislation. Changes to calcified laws though are years away.

In the meantime, Greater Victoria taxpayers need a strong national voice by someone who legitimately represents all of us. Hopefully that may be about to change at the Big City Mayors’ and our community will be elevated in stature.

If Victoria however fails to achieve this goal everyone will continue to lose in a variety of ways, both invisible and visible.

Commentary: Our community deserves a seat at the Big City Mayors’ table, Times Colonist, July 22, 2024.

www.timescolonist.com/opinion/comment-our-community-deserves-a-seat-at-the-big-city-mayors-table-9249753