Outstandingly sweet Candy Cane Awards 2025 !
Saanich, Colwood and Central Saanich recognized, but Lump of Coal Award for CRD
To recognize extraordinary performance, three municipalities on the South Island are enjoying an outstandingly sweet Candy Cane Award from Grumpy Taxpayer$.
The 12-packs of ‘Jet-puffed candy cane with artificial marshmallow flavour with no nutrient value,’ made in another country by Kraft, were bought on sale a year ago at a considerable discount. As a bonus this year – drum roll, please – there’s also a ‘Lump of Coal’ prize for a particularly awful performance (more about that later) by a local regional government.
Our top prize goes to Saanich council for eventually recognizing many taxpayers are struggling and that some financial moderation was required in the new 93-million operations yard.
“A long-delayed but scaled-back modern operations yard in Saanich is absolutely critical for the region’s largest municipality,” says John Treleaven, chair of Grumpy Taxpayer$.
“It’s clear affordability is a top priority these days for most taxpayers and financial restraint is certainly necessary on very expensive capital projects.”
Council initially proposed a $172-million redevelopment plan that would have included a new operations centre alongside a mixed-use project to be developed in partnership with a private developer, with a large housing component and towers up to 18 stories.
Second place goes to Colwood for introducing a performance management dashboard tool to help better govern a municipality.
“Taxpayers know how challenging it is to manage any municipality, especially one that’s growing quickly such as Colwood. Taxpayers know tax dollars are increasingly precious and limited and so better governance is vital,” says Treleaven.
The real benefit and objective is to drive the achievement of their strategic plan into every manager and indeed every employee’s job description /evaluation, says Treleaven. Local governments face “unique pressures including multi-stakeholders, service delivery complexity and short term political cycles along with the need for long-term planning.”
A performance dashboard, using Power BI, within the City’s operational plan represents a significant advancement in management, providing real-time visibility into organizational performance across multiple dimensions. The City is currently implementing a new budget management tool, and this tool will support future financial and operations updates.
Third place honours goes to Central Saanich for taking an assertive approach in getting the province to finally build a flyover off Highway 17 at Keating Cross.
“To accomplish what Central Saanich has done, it took ambition, courage and dedication to the public good not widely or frequently seen around here,” says Treleaven.
By eliminating the need to turn across busy highway traffic and reducing congestion, the overpass project improves safety dramatically.
Construction began in June 2023, opened to northbound traffic in July 2025 and is now almost complete. The project cost $76.8 million and Central Saanich taxpayers contributed $2.5 million.
The second-ever “ Lump of Coal Award” to the CRD for taking more than a half century before it decided to form a regional transportation service.
“Whether it’s congestion or gridlock, every resident in the region knows the transportation system on the South Island has needed improvements for decades,” says Treleaven.
“Governance failures around transportation policy in general are effectively a stunning indictment of our failed system of local government,” say Treleaven. “That includes the failure of the CRD to lead or ensure the province build a full exchange to facilitate southbound traffic, not just a flyover to Keating Cross in Central Saanich.”
In November 2025, after almost 60 years, the 13 mayors in the region decided to establish a Regional Transportation Service and finally introduced a bylaw to do so.
And by the way, just so you know, there’s a debate about the origin of candy canes.
Wikipedia references 1670 when a German choirmaster gave the kids ‘sugar sticks’ to keep them quiet during worship services. The Sugar Association suggests the first documented use of candy canes in Christmas decor (trees) dates back to 1847.
Available for Media Interviews:
John Treleaven, Chair, Grumpy Taxpayer$
treleavengroup@shaw.ca
250.656.7899, cell 250.588.7899
Stan Bartlett, Director, Grumpy Taxpayer$
grumpytaxpayers@gmail.com
250-477-9907