BY JOHN TRELEAVEN, Chair of Grumpy Taxpayer$
The Times Colonist editorial Amalgamating Services would be an easier step (Jan. 4) should accelerate a process which last had a moment 50 plus years ago when the province created regional districts, including, of course, the CRD.
The districts were created as service delivery agencies for participating municipalities, and electoral districts, not as a an additional level of local government.
Since that time taxpayers in this region have watch the 13 sovereign municipalities continue to duplicate services, grow their employee count, meanwhile resisting (except for provision of water) the very reason the CRD was created.
Your concern about benign neglect by the province is all too accurate and important.
Years ago the Christy Clark government commissioned “Capital Integrated Services and Governance Initiative”. An election was approaching so the consultants were told to produce their study with no recommendations. They did but even so the government of the day refused to publish the report for which taxpayers had paid almost $100,000.
That task was left to the John Horgan government which, to their credit, acted promptly to release the report. Consultants had met with every municipal council and the CRD board in conducting their research. The report documented in clear and concise language the overlap, duplication and confusion around service delivery to the 450,000 residents and businesses. Once published however the report was never tabled for discussion by any participating municipal council nor by CRD board.
The fiefdoms remained largely undisturbed.
Today there is another chance for rational governance to rear its ugly head.
Your words of wisdom for the members of the Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly are spot on and mirror the submission There is Power in the Apostrophe by Grumpy Taxpayer$.
The Assembly has, for a brief moment, more power than their creators might wish to admit. Be bold was our advice, with which we are sure you would agree.
Your advice is sound and if heeded may actually allow 13 mayors and councils to keep their jobs in a city of 450,000 with one police force, centralized administrative service, one fire department, one zoning bi-law and planning process, one 911 centre, one library board etc.
But then again, this might be too much to expect from the 100 self-interested politicians and a provincial government populated by political parties who care more about electing MLAs than the economic health of Greater Victoria with a GNP of $25 billion.
Excellent comments John and bang on.
I never knew or thought about this. Definitely, streamlining services for such a small population seems in the best interests of the people, but not the over populated politicians. How can we pressure politicians to do what’s best for the people???
I lived through amalgamation in Toronto. The financial cost savings never materialized; taxes never declined. The worst part was a significant loss of local representation.
Prior to amalgamation we could go to our local councilor regarding issues in our community such as parks improvements, safety, etc. and the councilor was responsive.
Post amalgamation we had to present our concerns to a committee, most members of which had little knowledge of our community and often seemingly had no interest. Members of the committee often chatted amongst themselves while taxpayers presented well researched and written deputations. There was definitely a loss of local representation. Previously charming individual neighborhoods seemed to get homogenized into neighborhoods similar to all the others. In the CRD, including Saanich and Victoria, there are many very charming little neighborhoods which will likely be lost/diminished if amalgamation occurs.
I remember reading at the time that the Halifax experience with amalgamation was not successful either by many standards.
Amalgamation is a well intentioned concept but I have yet to see a successful implementation.
What might be possible without causing a deterioration of representation and neighborhood identity is the amalgamation of the some services such as fire or police.
Thank you so much for finally explaining how the 13 municipalities in Greater Victoria was created some 50 years ago, “for service delivery agencies for participating municipalities ,and electoral districts, not as additional levels of local government”. After living here for nearly 15 years it’s good to find out why these 13 municipalities came about as separate entities in Greater Victoria.
Well, here we go again……..Budget Time in our 13 municipalities. Seems like 10% tax increase is around the norm this year; how pathetic especially in these times when the future with other countries is so very important. One would hope some consistency in group thinking and savings to the residents would occur. Thinking outside the Box is a non starter for all our governments municipal, provincial or federal. Unfortunately it appears that will not be the case and again we have consecutive budget increase year after year. Last year my municipality imposed a 6.6% property tax increase, yet when my final property tax bill arrived it was a net 14 % increase from the prior year. It’s not only municipal tax increases but school tax, Transit increases etc. etc.