Saanich and Victoria merger is the right thing to do

Better governance from fewer governments has long been a rallying cry within the halls of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce. On April 5, our region took the first step toward achieving that goal.

The Victoria-Saanich Citizens’ Assembly released its findings seven years after the process took root in 2018. The 48-member assembly is recommending that Greater Victoria’s two largest municipalities merge.

“This is a major win for The Chamber. We’ve literally been advocating for this since the mid-20th Century,” Chamber CEO Bruce Williams said. “When we were packing up to move our office, we found binders with reams of paperwork calling for amalgamation over the decades.”

The Chamber was an early voice for using the Citizens’ Assembly process as a practical method for initiating amalgamation. And whenever the process stalled along the way, The Chamber was quick to nudge it forward.

The next step will be for the City of Victoria and District of Saanich to review the consensus reached by the Assembly.

“Both municipal councils have committed to receiving the Assembly’s final report and deliberating on its recommendations,” the report stated. “If they decide to endorse the Assembly’s recommendation for a public referendum on amalgamation, they will work with the Province of British Columbia to initiate it, likely to coincide with the next municipal elections in 2026.”