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Submission to Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, Budget 2021 Consultation From: Amalgamation Yes, Victoria, BC June 25, 2020 The Province of BC has constitutional responsibility for the well being of its residents. TheCommunity Charter delegates responsibility to local government for the delivery of a wide range of community services, such as water, waste and recycling collection, roads, parks, public safety, etc. However, the Province still retains a vested interest as to how well these obligations are delivered at the local and regional level. The Greater Victoria area serves as both the Provincial Capital and gateway to Vancouver Island, and generates special expectations as to how well it performs in relation to the social and economic expectations of the Province. In the case of the Capital Region District, with 13 separate municipalities, the quality of those service depends on how well they co-operate. Currently the Province has, in various ways, expressed its concerns about the failure of these municipalities to achieve some of their shared expectations. These include:  General efficiency of local government and effective service delivery at reasonable costs, particularly as reflected in the escalation of general levels of taxation  Increasing costs of local governments and salaries paid to municipal officials and staff, which create competitive pressure for provincial agencies  Mobility, in the context of urban traffic and the negative economic and environmental effects of congestion on regional and provincial travel patterns, and access links to airports, ferries that constrict flow of goods and tourists  Frustration over the slow response to the housing crisis, particularly the shortage of social housing and market supply  Failure of regional economic planning to stimulate and facilitate business investment and employment, and provide space and service for commercial and technical business opportunities. Amalgamation Yes is a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to bringing about governance reform for municipalities in the Capital Region District (CRD)  Growing awareness of consequences of natural events and disasters, e.g. earthquakes, fires, floods or health pandemics that do not recognize municipal boundaries. The need for a co-ordinated response to mitigate the impacts of climate change have reinforced the recognition of that reality and the need for readiness response to emergencies.  Failure to acknowledge the reality of the modern world requires new policy approaches necessary to respond to international and technology crime. Currently criminals live in one location, commit crimes in another, and live in yet another. In much of the Province the Regional District model works well as means to plan and deliver local services, particularly water supply, sewerage treatment and landfill – all best organized and financed at regional scale. And it provides a means to organize and fund services to residents of unorganized rural areas and small communities. The majority of BC regions have one large community of 30,000 - 80,000 residents, with the remainder of residents of smaller towns and villages spread throughout the region. These are examples of how the Regional District model works well. In such cases the largest community serves as the regional centre for hospitals, colleges, airports, etc. (e.g. Kelowna, Cranbrook, Kamloops, Nanaimo) Current Situation in Greater Victoria Area The Capital Region (CRD), and the Lower Mainland, are polycentric, with 95% of the urban population clustered with common municipal boundaries and bulk of the region as rural forest or farmland. The CRD urban cluster is distributed between 13 municipalities (9 with populations of 15,000 – 35,000, two with under 5,000, and two with 92,000 and 120,000 respectively). All members of the CRD Board are appointed by their respective councils, but first elected as municipal officials. So there is no local leader who speaks for the region. The Mayor of Victoria represents only 92,000 of the 400,000 regional residents. The strength and weakness of the Regional District model is that the regional authority can only expand its mandate and assume leadership and responsibility for service delivery with consent of each municipal council. But each member municipality also has veto power, and in that sense localism triumphs over matters of common regional importance and Provincial interests are not dealt with. In the CRD case, 13 is too many. Attempts at Reform The results of the 2014 non binding referendum in 7 municipalities confirmed strong public support (75%) for a review of municipal governance, but municipal leaders simply ignored this advice from the electorate. Also, a 2014 Angus Reid poll reported 84% in favour of governance review. It was only after a repeated expression of voter support in the 2018 election that Councils for Victoria and Saanich agreed to jointly proceed with a Citizens' Assembly (CA) process. Concurrently, in 2017 the Province initiated its own review. The release of the Capital Integrated Services and Governance Initiative (CISGI) report documented the morass of Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) arrangements, about half via the CRD and another as inter- municipal only. This confirmed that instead of actual co-ordination and formal integrated service delivery agreements, the region is dependent on 400 informal arrangements – a complex, tedious and voluntary process with no public accountability. While the CISGI report provided a useful catalogue of possibilities, it fell short of identifying priorities and any recommendation to rectify the situation when separate municipal jurisdictions simply refuse to cooperate on what are obvious instances where a joint regional approach would be more effective and efficient. Evidence of failures within the Capital Region As currently structured, the regional model does not meet Provincial objectives for integrated transportation, rationale land use, co-ordinated emergency service delivery, climate change mitigation, economic development, and particularly to facilitate housing supply. There is ample evidence that elected municipal leaders in the Capital Region have NOT been able to develop cohesive voice in critical matters. In the past three years, the Province has had to intervene and lead the planning process and identify policies and priorities for action to resolve local political impasses over such critical issues as:  sewerage treatment  the Mckenzie overpass  the South Island Transportation Plan (pending) These actions by the Province confirm that the Regional District model is not working well and some reform is necessary. Other instances include:  Daily evidence of serious transportation issues that restrict not only daily commuter traffic within the city, but also hampers public, commercial and tourist access to ferries, airport, etc. The parochial municipal members of the CRD Board have defeated attempts to provide leadership for transportation planning.  Several municipalities refuse to accept responsibility to add to housing supply and particularly social housing.  In the Region there are 7 police chiefs and at least 15 fire chiefs. Progress was being made toward co-ordination of a CRD regional emergency dispatch, but several municipalities refused to participate.  There are 7 separate recreation departments, and funding responsibility for regional arts centres is mainly the burden of the City of Victoria. Possible Solutions and Recommendations We urge the Committee include in its report: Assert that Provincial social and economic interests and strategic objectives for Vancouver Island require municipal reform of the regional/municipal model and recommend Provincial leadership in support of policy and institutional changes:  CRD Board with members elected as regional representatives  expand the mandate of regional service delivery to include emergency dispatch, policing and transportation planning Confirm that Provincial funding in Ministry of Community Affairs is adequate to facilitate initiatives in support of municipal reform specifically to:  ensure funding is available to support the Citizen Assembly process for Victoria and Saanich  provide municipal restructuring grants It is notable that implementation of the above would not require dramatic amendments to theCommunity Charter nor forced amalgamations. It would only require an amendment to the Letters Patent of the CRD to add service delivery functions to the required mandate, and minor legislative change to amend the voting structure of the Board. For confirmation of successful alternative arrangements, we refer you to the Waterloo Regional Municipality of Ontario and its roles and responsibilities. This region of approximately 600,000 includes the three separate cities of Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge, each with an urban downtown and municipal council. The Waterloo Regional Board has a directly elected Chair and regional councilors, along with a provision for membership of the mayors. The Region is responsible for police services, public transit, water supply, landfill, transportation, etc. Most notable is that in 2019 this region commenced operation of a regional light rapid transit system that connects the downtowns, hospitals and universities, among other destinations. A remarkable achievement for such small city. Respectfully submitted, Jim Anderson, Chair Amalgamation Yes 250.477.8255 anderson.jd@shaw.ca amalgamateyes@gmail.comwww.amalgamationyes.ca

The British Columbia Minister of Finance invited all residents of the Province to submit their thoughts and ideas on the 2021 Budget to the Select Standing Committee on Finances and Government Services. For your information, Amalgamation Yes has made the following submission on the need for governance reform in the Capital Region, and to ensure funding is provided to the upcoming Saanich—Victoria Citizens' Assembly process.

A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on top of a Rockland neighbourhood redwood FOCUS is undertaking a long-term project to learn what species of native plants and animals remain in the Victoria area. Our goals are two-fold. First, we want to create a Victoria-based catalogue of species and their abundance. Over time, such a record will help this community know how well, or badly, each species is faring. Secondly, we want to encourage those Victorians who are already photographing the presence of native species. We hope that by providing a public place to exhibit their photographs, they will be encouraged to dig even deeper. Those of us already engaged in this process—observing and recording our observations—know that it’s a great way to develop a deeper awareness and understanding of all the other living things—animals, plants and fungi—with which we share Victoria. Once you have photographed a plant or animal, there’s a good chance it can be identified. Once it has a name, you can tap into the deep well of knowledge that has been accumulated about that species. Beware, though. Once you have started down this path, it’s very difficult to stop. To follow our progress at mapping native animals, click here.

Yes, we will open a forum for rotary clubs. We will be in touch.

Thanks for your update Jim. I look forward to hearing your news and perspective on this issue as developments occur.

FOCUS received the following submission from James Anderson, Chair of Amalgamation Yes, on April 18: Amalgamation Yes concerned by District of Saanich attempt to cancel or defer joint citizens' assembly amalgamation study On April 20, the District of Saanich will be discussing the cancellation or deferment of the Joint Citizens' Assembly (CA) initiative approved by both Victoria and Saanich electorate in 2018. This was a sudden and unexpected action, and a surprise to many. Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps was blindsided by the news and stated that there was much preliminary work that could continue, despite the current pandemic. She stated that the City of Victoria was prepared to continue this preliminary work. Although claiming to be unbiased, the Mayor of Saanich is on the record as opposing the study, publicly calling it “the death of Saanich”. A cynic might conclude this is an opportunistic move to derail the governance review process that the electorate has endorsed over two election cycles and 6 years of multiple polls. We challenge any efforts by political opponents of studying amalgamation to use the virus to thwart any serious review of governance. To do so would be undemocratic and raise questions of authoritarianism. As you are aware, it took over a year for the two municipalities just to agree on a Terms of Reference for the CA. While we are all acutely aware of the Covid-19 health emergency, much of the work yet to be undertaken precedes the selection of interested resident volunteers for CA membership. Of course that resident selection must not occur until the pandemic abates. There is no reason why the CA process could not proceed with the following activities: Send joint report to Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing for joint funding, to augment the $250K authorized by the two electorates. Upon Provincial funding confirmation, draft RFPs for CA Facilitator and Technical Analyst. Create a Joint Council Committee to oversee preparation for the CA. Issue RFPs for Facilitator and Technical Analyst. Receive and evaluate RFP responses and seek Councils' approval to sign contracts. The CA Facilitator to prepare a plan and methodology for selection and evaluation of CA respondents. We urge the District of Saanich to cooperate with the City of Victoria and proceed with preliminary work as outlined above. James (Jim) Anderson, Chair AmalgamationYes

Thanks for the idea Gizmo. We will add forums for public interest groups. We've created one for the Grumpy Taxpayer$ and one for Amalgamation Yes. Any other suggestions?