An overwhelming majority of Greater Victoria residents want to move forward on amalgamation, according to a poll released today.
The pro-amalgamation group that commissioned the poll now wants the provincial government to order a study into what a merger of all or some of the region’s 13 municipalities would mean.
Barring that, Amalgamation Yes wants cabinet minister Coralee Oakes to ask voters in November’s civic elections whether they want an amalgamation study done.
The group is still trying to get municipal councils to put a non-binding amalgamation question to voters, but only Victoria has agreed to do so. The rest have argued that the issue is not a priority for their citizens.
The Angus Reid poll showed:
- 84 per cent of capital region residents favour amalgamation
- 89 per cent support a non-binding referendum on amalgamation
- 80 per cent want an independent cost-benefit study and analysis
- While 77 per cent are satisfied with the quality of service from their current municipal government, half say municipalities are doing a poor job working together at the Capital Regional District level
- Only 16 per cent believe the region’s status quo is working
- 84 per cent say costs for larger projects should be shared by all municipalities
- The perceived benefits of amalgamation included reduced governance costs and better regional planning and decision-making. The negatives included a fear that large municipalities would dictate to small ones, a loss of local identity and a loss of local representation.
- While they favour cutting the number of municipalities (only seven per cent say we should keep all 13) respondents were divided on how many there should be: a quarter said their should be one municipality, a quarter said there should be four or five, and 21 per cent said there should be three.
- Respondents said the top three issues facing the CRD are sewage and wastewater, co-ordination between municipalities, and transportation.
CLICK HERE to download the full report
Angus Reid Global surveyed 441 Greater Victoria residents July 16-17, with the breakdown mirroring the relative populations of the region’s 13 municipalities. The sample size carries a 4.7 per cent margin of error.
The poll was paid for by the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, the Victoria Hotel Association and the Victoria Real Estate Board.
