Sitting here in Victoria, land of 91 mayors and councillors with a population less than Surrey’s, I find it atrocious to see a broad statement such as: “The research is clear — municipal amalgamations are not a reliable way to achieve more efficient government” (“Amalgamation can’t fulfil cost-saving promise,” comment, July 5).
This statement flies in the face of successfully amalgamated communities across this province, this country and the Commonwealth.
While municipal mergers can be protracted affairs, B.C. has a long history of successful amalgamations. There have been 20 amalgamations in British Columbia since 1929, when South Vancouver and Point Grey joined Vancouver.
The last major amalgamation — Abbotsford and Matsqui in 1995 — proved reliable beyond measure, as politicians and locals will attest.
The writer claims Robert Bish to be “North America’s leading expert of municipal government organization,” but fails to mention Bish has for years been a personal advocate against amalgamation. Many academics disagree with Bish’s views, including his successor at the University of Victoria. Bish favours an approach to municipal governance akin to U.S. communities, rather than the traditional Commonwealth community-building approach.
The difference is like having a restricted focus on what is just beyond your front door rather than on the wider community, the latter maintaining a greater balance of social equity.
Focusing on social equity and fiscal responsibility through efficiencies gained by merging municipalities is prevalent across the Commonwealth. This year, one Australian state government moved to amalgamate more than 30 municipalities.
It makes one shed a tear for the doom that awaits them all if one were to believe the conclusions of some academics.
The Toronto amalgamation ultimately proved successful, according to a Toronto Star editorial in December, 2014, which said York, the poorest of the city’s former municipalities, had more parks, playgrounds and other community benefits thanks to the benefits of amalgamation.
For further positive evidence, call the provincial federation of municipalities on Prince Edward Island, which produces an “Amalgamation Tool Kit” to assist communities looking at amalgamation based on previous successful mergers in that province.
Of the 88 per cent of Greater Victoria residents able to vote on the referendum issue in the 2014 municipal election, 75.1 per cent voted yes for some form of amalgamation review. The province promised to deliver an amalgamation study, yet to materialize, and the government appears to be dismissing amalgamation.
A $140,000 study of amalgamation of the municipalities of Duncan and North Cowichan is underway. At least 10 amalgamations are anticipated over the next few years in Nova Scotia alone.
Which brings us back to Victoria. Why is the B.C. government not acceding to the democratic wish of the residents of Greater Victoria to conduct an amalgamation study? Our group, Amalgamation Yes, takes no position on the level of capital region amalgamation, but does support an in-depth regional study, the results of which would be brought back to the electorate.
Last, I wish to address the fallacy perpetuated by certain academics that amalgamations don’t result in more efficiently run communities. The commentary claims that academics have been waiting for evidence that amalgamations save money since 1955. I would be happy to introduce the author to Canadian amalgamated communities that are fiscally better off now than they were before amalgamation. The most positive-cash-flow community in the country is amalgamated Mississauga.
For those who feel bigger municipal government is essentially bad and that fragmented governance is necessarily better, consider the following.
Halifax and Victoria are two provincial capitals on the water, home to Canada’s east and west coast Pacific fleets respectively. They are fairly similar in size, with Halifax at 390,000 residents and the Victoria region with 40,000 fewer.
The Halifax Regional Municipality has one amalgamated, directly elected regional council. The Victoria region has 13 elected councils plus the Capital Regional District board.
Which capital has its act together?
My hope is that Premier Christy Clark will finally come around and let capital region residents have their amalgamation study as promised to voters after the municipal election.
John Vickers is vice-chairman of Amalgamation Yes.
