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Government taking too long to decide on amalgamation vote

Hard to believe how the province is leaving the Cowichan Valley hanging

I find it hard to believe how the province is leaving the Cowichan Valley hanging with plans for a referendum on amalgamation.

The City of Duncan and the Municipality of North Cowichan have been working hard to get their ducks in a row to hold the referendum on joining the two municipalities in April.

Staff and council members from both jurisdictions have been busy this winter preparing information on the amalgamation process that was planned to be presented during public meetings in the run-up to the referendum, and election officers have already been appointed to facilitate the vote this spring.

Duncan and North Cowichan had anticipated that permission from B.C.’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson, which is required, to hold the referendum in April would be just a formality.

But Robinson is taking her time making a final decision and continues to ask for more information from the municipalities.

In a letter to North Cowichan and Duncan sent last December, Robinson said there are a number of steps the municipalities must complete before she can approve the referendum.

They included a better sense of costs and resources that would be available during the transition to a single municipality, more information on how Duncan and North Cowichan would operate in the time between the referendum and the actual amalgamation (if approved), and a framework on how the new inaugural single council would be developed during the transition period.

North Cowichan Mayor Jon Lefebure told me at the time that staff and referendum organizers had hoped that they had already answered all those questions for the ministry in previous meetings and correspondence.

Since then, North Cowichan and Duncan have been trying to adequately deal with Robinson’s concerns, but there is still no green light to proceed.

The Citizen questioned the ministry on why it is taking so long to make a final decision and a prepared statement was sent to us that did little to answer our questions.

“We understand there is enthusiasm in both communities to move quickly on a referendum vote,” the statement said.

“The ministry is working with the municipalities to ensure that voters have the information they need about how those aspects of transition would be managed before they make a decision on the path forward. We want to be certain that voters and the municipalities are clear on what would happen next if amalgamation is endorsed by the voters in each community, and hope to be in that position soon.”

Soon or not, it appears that any chance to hold the referendum in April is dwindling, and if it’s determined that there won’t be enough time to provide all the information to the public in time for a spring referendum, it’s likely the whole vote will be called off until this fall’s municipal elections.

There would be some advantages to a fall referendum, including the fact that it would give more time to prepare information and educate voters, a higher voter turnout would be likely as the referendum would be held at the same time as the municipal election, and it would cost less than a separate referendum.

But it does concern me that local governments have to be so dependent on senior levels of government and their never-ending bureaucracy to move their agendas forward.

Robert Barron is a reporter with the Cowichan Valley Citizen. He can be reached at Robert.Barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com.



Robert Barron

About the Author: Robert Barron

Since 2016, I've had had the pleasure of working with our dedicated staff and community in the Cowichan Valley.
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