Province halts binding Victoria-Saanich merger referendum

The move comes after the Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly, a 48-member panel of randomly selected residents, spent eight months studying the issue before recommending the two municipalities amalgamate. (Chad Hipolito)

A long-running effort to determine whether Victoria and Saanich should become one municipality is moving ahead to the ballot, but the province is not prepared to make the result binding.

The B.C. government has declined to authorize a binding referendum on amalgamation, meaning the question expected on the Oct. 17 municipal election ballot will only serve as an opinion question.

The move comes after the Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly, a 48-member panel of randomly selected residents, spent eight months studying the issue before recommending the two municipalities amalgamate.

According to the assembly’s final report, members concluded that a unified municipality would best serve the region after weighing costs, benefits and governance challenges over the course of more than 3,000 hours of deliberation.

But despite that recommendation, the province says it is not ready to proceed with a binding vote, citing outstanding questions around financial impacts, transition planning and consultation with local First Nations.

Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto said the decision came as a surprise after years of work through the citizens’ assembly process.

She called it “a little disappointing.”

“There appeared to be additional requirements being layered on by the province, which were not apparent to us at the beginning of the process,” said Alto.

Even so, Victoria and Saanich councils are expected to move ahead with putting a question to voters, with Victoria council set to consider wording Thursday.

Alto said that whatever the result, the province will ultimately determine what happens next.

“If the public says yes, then that puts us in a position of going to the province and saying, ‘Here are the results,’ and now over to you, province, to determine what to do next,” she said.

She added that the process remains useful for gauging public support, even if it does not directly trigger change.

If voters reject the proposal, Alto suggested the issue could be shelved for years. If they support it, it will still require provincial approval before any amalgamation could proceed.

For now, the question heads toward the 2026 ballot, but the final decision remains in provincial hands.