Central Saanich left out of police regionalization talks, local chief weighs in

As four South Island mayors explore their options for a fresh policing model, one municipality is notably absent from the conversation: Central Saanich.

Last week, the mayors of Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt, and Oak Bay met with the public safety minister to discuss a potential transition to a new policing model, particularly a regionalized service.

The mayor of Central Saanich, which is home to one of the four municipal departments on Vancouver Island, wasn’t part of the meeting.

“It’s not because we’re not open to it,” Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto said in an interview with CTV News.

“(Central Saanich) is so different an environment that it may not be the right fit for what is, essentially, an urban service.”

Alto said the community isn’t as geographically and demographically similar as the other four municipalities. She also pointed out its shared jurisdictional borders with the Sidney/North Saanich RCMP.

“Obviously, if Mayor (Ryan) Windsor and his council wished to be involved, we would certainly not object to that at all,” Alto said.

Windsor was unavailable to comment on the matter on Tuesday.

Central Saanich police chief urges evidence-based conversations

In a rare interview, Central Saanich Police Service (CSPS) Chief Ian Lawson said his community should be included in regionalization talks.

He said those conversations shouldn’t be based on common assumptions about combining departments, such as cost-savings.

“We have to look at what that research is going to be, what the evidence is going to suggest,” Lawson told CTV News.

The mayors who met with the public safety minister requested a provincial assessment of alternative policing options for the capital region, which already has several integrated units.

If the review moves ahead, the ministry said it will consider governance structures, service quality, community engagement, fiscal impacts and funding.

“Central Saanich has the lowest cost per capita in British Columbia amongst the B.C. municipal police services. And unfortunately, Victoria is the highest per capita,” Lawson said.

CSPS has a price tag of $284 per capita, while the Victoria Police Department comes in at $598, according to a 2023 provincial report, which is the most recent data available.

“So when we’re looking at cost savings and we’re looking at … regionalization, how is that going to work?” Lawson asked. “Are you having cheaper costs or is it going to be more expensive for residents within the capital region?”

Watching out for the little guy

Former Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Chris Lewis has witnessed the amalgamation of many small departments, forming services such as the Peel Regional Police in 1974.

Lewis said regional departments have streamlined communications, consistent policies, and better buying power for equipment, but said small communities can feel like they’ve lost their voice.

“That’s certainly been a contentious issue,” he said. “Sometimes they just have one member on a larger amalgamated police services board, so they don’t feel they have their say.”

If Greater Victoria ever adopted a regional model, Lawson stressed the need to maintain or improve current service levels in small communities, such as Central Saanich and Oak Bay.

“We need to be accountable to our community and to be able to adequately explain, rationalize and demonstrate how we are using the resources that we are given,” he said.