Archive for April 2015
Central Saanich Planning & Development Committee Hears from the Public
April 30, 2015 | 
Author An extraordinary planning committee meeting of Central Saanich mayor and council is called to hear from the public regarding plans to address future growth areas in the coming years.
For the complete meeting, go to https://youtu.be/Rs1JSKqhrXY
Posted in Community News | 
Tags: agriculture, central saanich, CSaan, family farm, growth, Keating X, OCP, Planning & Development, Regional, RGS, RSS, strategy, sustainable, UCB, vegetables | 
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Amalgamation Study for the Peninsula?
by Roger Stonebanks, citizen journalist
Central Saanich council has called on North Saanich and Sidney councils and Community Minister Coralee Oakes to attend a “joint committee meeting” on provincial funding for a study or cost-benefit analysis of amalgamation of the peninsula municipalities.
“Council has resolved to invite the mayors and councils of the three municipalities and their citizens to attend and provide input at a joint meeting,” said Mayor Ryan Windsor of Central Saanich in a letter this month to Oakes who was invited to attend the joint meeting.
Following this joint municipal meeting, Windsor requested a meeting with Oakes “to discuss next steps including development of the Terms of Reference for the study. The mayors and chief administrative officers of the 3 municipalities will be invited to the follow-up meeting. In order to move forward, we ask that your staff provide us with dates and times you are available to attend the meeting.”
In a separate letter to Oakes, Windsor noted that Central Saanich voters approved the following question at the Nov. 15 election – “Should the District of Central Saanich petition the Province to fund a cost/benefit analysis of an amalgamation of Central Saanich, North Saanich and Sidney?”
North Saanich voters answered “yes” to this question – “Are you in favour of a study, provincially funded, to investigate the feasibility, costs and implications of amalgamating the three municipalities on the Saanich Peninsula of Sidney, Central Saanich and North Saanich?”
Sidney voters approved this question – “Are you in favour of a provincially funded study to investigate the feasibility, costs and implications of amalgamating the three municipalities of the Saanich Peninsula?
Asked for comment, Oakes told SVO: “The Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development is in the process of considering how best to proceed regarding the results of the referenda in the Capital Region.
“The Ministry sees an opportunity to support a conversation on governance and service integration and has heard from some Mayors and Councils but needs to hear from others to gauge interest and better understand how to collaborate on this goal.
“Decisions about potential next steps will come out of the Province’s considerations and future discussions between local governments and the provincial government.”
Mayor Alice Finall of North Saanich said, “The note from Central Saanich reflects the position of North Saanich. We have requested financing from the province so that the municipality can conduct a study.” (updated May 1, ’15)
Mayor Steve Price of Sidney was asked by SVO to comment on the Central Saanich letters but has not replied.
Meanwhile, Saanich council is waiting for a staff report before beginning its “governance review.” Voters said “yes” to this question last Nov. 15 – “Do you support Council initiating a community-based review of the governance structure and policies within Saanich and our partnerships within the Region?”
For earlier information and comments about amalgamation/governance on the Saanich Peninsula and in Greater Victoria generally, please see:
Regional Collaboration – a work in progress March, 2015
Comment is Free, But Facts are Sacred April, 2015
Moving Amalgamation Forward, or Not January, 2015
Amalgamation – where do we go from here? December, 2014
Comment is Free, but Facts are Sacred
Facts and Comments – by Roger Stonebanks, citizen journalist
Last November, most of us in the Capital Region chose not to vote at all in the municipal elections for mayors and councillors and that included seven of the eight out of 13 municipalities in the Region that held referenda on amalgamation or governance or other such wording. Only in North Saanich did a majority – barely – go to the polls. Still, in a democracy, decisions are made by those who vote.
Since the Nov 15th election there has been much commentary and some over-simplification about the amalgamation/governance referenda results. As a noted British journalist, C.P. Scott, once said, “Comment is free but facts are sacred.”
Community Development Minister Coralee Oakes has commented that the referenda questions were “quite mixed” in the eight municipalities. So too were the answers. What did we do when we voted? To refresh ourselves as the debate continues, here’s how we voted last November – and on what (plus some comments):
SIDNEY – “Are you in
favour of a provincially funded study to investigate the feasibility, costs and implications of amalgamating the three municipalities of the Saanich Peninsula?”
YES, 2,566; NO, 1,232; eligible voters 9,100.
NORTH SAANICH – “Are you in favour of a study, provincially funded, to investigate the feasibility, costs and implications of amalgamating the three municipalities on the Saanich Peninsula of Sidney, Central Saanich and North Saanich?”
YES, 2,881; NO, 1,727; Eligible voters 9,055.
CENTRAL SAANICH –
“Should the District of Central Saanich petition the Province to fund a cost/benefit analysis of an amalgamation of Central Saanich, North Saanich and Sidney?
YES, 3,588; NO, 1,489; eligible voters 14,242.
Commentary: These three referenda are clear and so are the results – a study or cost/benefit analysis, funded by the province, of amalgamation of the three peninsula municipalities.
SAANICH – “Do you support Council initiating a community-based review of the governance structure and policies within Saanich and our partnerships within the Region?”
YES, 21,437; NO, 2,780; eligible voters 80,986.
Commentary: Saanich council held out against pressure for some sort of referendum – then decided, unanimously, on the question above. It carefully – and deliberately – avoided the word “amalgamation.” This resulted in those who favoured amalgamation voting for it (perhaps because it was as good as it was going to get), those who opposed amalgamation voting for it (perhaps because “amalgamation” wasn’t mentioned), as well as those who simply thought that a community-based review was a good idea, and may not have had an opinion on amalgamation at all.
VICTORIA – “Are you in favour of reducing the number of municipalities in Greater Victoria through amalgamation?”
YES, 18,351; NO, 4,601; eligible voters 69,624.
OAK BAY – “Are you in favour of the District of Oak Bay being amalgamated into a larger regional municipality?”
YES, 2,184; NO, 3,594; eligible voters 14,107.
ESQUIMALT – two referenda, (1) “Are you in favour of the Township of Esquimalt exploring options to achieve efficiencies by further sharing some services with other municipalities?” YES, 3,731; NO, 578; eligible voters 14,545; (2) “Are you in favour of exploring the reduction of the number of municipalities within Greater Victoria through amalgamation?”
YES, 2,905; NO, 1,404; eligible voters 14,545.
Commentary: The first question is about shared services – not amalgamation. The second question only sought to explore amalgamation but note how support for it drops and opposition grows compared with the shared services referendum.
LANGFORD – “Are you in favour of the City of Langford being amalgamated into a larger regional municipality?”
YES, 2,222 (9%); NO, 2,209; eligible voters 23,864.
Commentary: Clear question, clear answer – but it passed by only 13 votes.
View Royal, Highlands, Colwood, Metchosin, Sooke – councils did not hold referenda. Eligible voters 34,505.
Commentary – because these voters were never asked – we can never know what they thought.
Overall the percentage of eligible voters that voted yes – on whatever their question was – was just 21%
Election results source – Civic Information BC/Elections BC – www.election2014.civicinfo.bc.ca For news updates on amalgamation/governance – Saanich Voice Online – www.saanichvoiceonline.ca
Fool-Tipping for Good
2015 seems to be the Greater Victoria Citizens’ Counselling Centre’s year. The little powerhouse of an agency that sees over 1,200 people each year from the Greater Victoria area is just about to host its seventh annual gala fundraiser Tip a Fool –and has just been chosen to receive a complete building make-over through HeroWork this coming June.
“The year is starting out very well,” says long-time executive director Brenda Wilson. “We’re always very grateful for the support of the community, but this year it seems that it’s over the top.”
This hasn’t always been the case for this Centre – or many other community counselling agencies in the Capital Region. Not long ago people were able to find affordable counselling services within their own community. Sidney and the Peninsula were serviced by volunteer counsellors through Beacon Community Services, and while they still provide some service on the Peninsula, the number of available counselling spots has diminished greatly over the last ten years.
“When the community was most able there were several agencies that were offering the kind of support that we do, here at the Centre,” says Wilson. Through a series of Vancouver Island Health
Authority (VIHA) cuts the community’s capacity to provide this kind of support dwindled steadily, while the need for it grew.
In 2010, after a couple reprieves, the Centre’s VIHA funding was cut with the Authority saying that it needed to focus its limited resources on higher acuity clients. Wilson says that since that time they have had to rely on their fees for service, grants from the United Way and Victoria Foundation, gaming money, and their own fundraising. And it hasn’t always covered the bills.
Citizens’ Counselling Centre has been serving Greater Victoria since 1969, with a mandate to provide quality, affordable counselling to all those who request it of them. The Centre provides all its counselling through trained volunteer counselors. The counselling Centre runs a 10-month intensive counselor training program every year (funding permitting) that has created over 750 counselors since its humble beginnings. In exchange for the training the newly-minted counselors are then required to provide 250 counselling sessions to the Centre’s clients over the coming months and sometimes years. Many volunteers provide much more than the required 250 sessions. Volunteer counsellors as well as UVic and City University Master’s level practicum students provide the Centre with more than 100 active volunteer counselors at any given time.
But even with all that amazing counselling capacity, the demand is greater.
“Right now our waiting list is about six weeks long,” says Wilson. “Certain times of the year are worse than others, but for the most part we’re backlogged over a month at any given time.” Wilson says that over 30 per cent of their clientele are youth, and a growing number are seniors.
“We’re finding that today’s 18-29 year-olds and the over 65s have some very specific issues that they are faced with and are needing a little extra help making sense of it all,” explains Wilson, adding, “We’re just glad that they are reaching out and asking for help, and that we can be here when they do. Our fundraising efforts are vital to keeping that a reality.”
Enter Tip a Fool, the agency’s annual major fundraiser. “Our Tip a Fool event has been a life-ring for the agency,” says Wilson. “And it is really starting to make a name for itself as seen in our repeat table buyers. It’s a crazy-fun event, and people love it.”
The annual gala is held at the Union Club of BC. It sees 12 local celebrities act as waiters and compete for tips by offering the outrageous and the wonderful to their table guests. Past events have seen Pacific Opera’s Timothy Vernon taking advantage of a nearby baby grand and a make-shift tip jar while then-Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe and his trusty side-kick (played by Jack Knox) busk on the corner by the bar. Knox is back this year along with a whole host of media, political, and business leaders.
“Past waiters’ tips have topped $3200 for the evening [Randy Wilson, 2008], but most range from $400 – $2400,” says Event Chair Kyara Kahakauwila. She says that ticket sales are good this year, but they have more to sell. “We have a great roster of celebrities and we’re working hard to have a sell-out. We like to say that it’s the most fun you’ll have, doing good.”
For more info on Tip a Fool (or to buy a ticket) visit www.tipafool.ca or Facebook
For more information on Citizens’ Counselling Centre: www.citizenscounselling.com or Facebook
Stay tuned for part two of the Centre’s good year story – featuring their HeroWork Radical Renovation – in July’s issue of SVO. You can follow the progress on Heroworks’ Facebook Page
Posted in Community News | Tags: citizens counselling centre, fundraising, gala event, mental health, non-profit, tip a fool | No Comments »
