The Capital Regional District is made up of 13 separate municipalities. Now after years of amalgamation debate, its two largest communities – Saanich and Victoria – could be a step closer to becoming one. “The citizens assembly is something that has been many years in the making and it’s actually worth mentioning that it’s a made-in-B.C. model of citizen democracy,” said Peter MacLeod, chair of the Victoria-Saanich Citizens Assembly. That is a group of 48 volunteers – 27 residents of Saanich and 21 from Victoria – that were tasked with reaching a consensus on whether amalgamating the two communities makes sense. After months of exploration, the group has decided that both municipalities would benefit from a partnership. “Both communities are of a similar size,” said MacLeod. “They have a similar approach to public finance, taxation and service delivery.” The assembly ultimately concluded efficiencies could be found through combined fire and police services, as well as being able to better plan for the future. “By joining forces they might be able to be better advocates, more effective advocates with the province and the federal government for investment and their interests,” said MacLeod. “I’m looking forward to getting into the details,” said Dean Murdock, the Mayor of Saanich. Next month, both councils will receive the assembly’s full report with all the details of its findings. Following that, both municipal governments will need to seek permission from the province to hold a referendum. That would likely be timed with the next municipal election in 2026. “That’s where the voters in both Saanich and Victoria will get to decide whether or not this is something that they want to do,” said Murdock. “There’s a lot of questions that need to be answered,” said Victoria Coun. Matt Dell. Dell says he’s hearing mixed feelings from Victoria residents when if comes to joining forces with Saanich. “Some people think amalgamation is going to save tons of money and fix all the issues and some people go, ‘Absolutely not. We love Victoria as a progressive urban core,‘” said Dell. If voters in both municipalities support amalgamation, it wouldn’t be until 2030 at the earliest when those voters would be able to have their say on a single unified council.
