The reasons for splitting an Island regional district into two are not economic or ideological, they are political
Jim Abram, in a Special to the Vancouver Sun
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
On Feb. 15, the Comox Strathcona Regional District (CSRD) will cease to exist and in its place will be two new regional districts: The Strathcona Regional District (SRD), and the Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD).
With a population of around 102,000, the CSRD is a medium-sized regional district on rural north-central Vancouver Island, adjacent islands and mainland coast. Campbell River and Courtenay are the main towns, with the new regional border to be drawn halfway between them.
How this restructuring came about is another example of our provincial government's complete disregard for existing legislation, democratic principles and processes, and its preferred practice of making backroom decisions that benefit business and development interests.
As an electoral area director for 19 years and as a former president of the Union of B.C. Municipalities, I strongly believe that this arbitrary decision has implications for everyone in B.C.
In a letter dated July 13, 2007, Minister of Community Services Ida Chong informed the CSRD board that the restructuring was going to take place. For most CSRD directors and members of the public, this announcement came out of the blue; there was no consultation with those most affected. The minister did state, however, that she had consulted with her colleague, Stanley Hagen, MLA for the Comox Valley.
Developers have portrayed the CSRD as dysfunctional and consistently blocked attempts to reach regional solutions to community problems. Their goal has been to gain control over land use planning and development in the Comox Valley; now, with the support of the Liberal government, their dream will become reality. Perhaps of greater interest, provisions of the Local Government Act and the Community Charter are being blatantly violated by the provincial government.
Chong is making two changes to the governance structures of the new regional districts which will ensure control by the large municipalities while reducing representation from the rural areas. The minister is amalgamating four rural electoral areas into two while increasing the number of directors for the large municipalities. Representation in vast rural areas of the CSRD is being reduced from four directors to two directors, depriving people in remote communities of effective representation.
The decision to amalgamate these electoral areas has no basis in common sense or logic. It is arbitrary and has been made for blatantly political reasons: To increase the voting power of the large municipalities and to disenfranchise rural residents. One person will not be able to adequately represent either of the new, amalgamated Electoral Areas.
While the political shenanigans that led to this restructuring may be of interest only to those who follow such things, the residents and taxpayers of the current CSRD will find the costs incurred from this restructuring to be of continuing interest: They will face them every year when they open their property tax notices.
A respected accounting firm hired to quantify the costs of dividing the CSRD into two came up with a conservative estimate of $6.7 million. Despite an earlier commitment by Chong to cover these costs, she has decided to limit government financial support to $1.5 million. Taxpayers will be on the hook for the remainder. They will also be paying increased costs because the two smaller regional districts cannot be operated as cost-effectively as one larger one.
The Comox Strathcona Regional District is not perfect; no local government is. However, it does deliver services to its residents in an efficient and cost-effective manner, as acknowledged by the accounting firm. This provincial government has amalgamated Community Health Councils into seven large Health Authorities, and has forced school districts to amalgamate schools by changing funding formulas, forcing school closures.
Why would it now divide a local government, that has demonstrable structural and cost efficiencies, into two? The reasons are not economic or ideological; they are political.
The decision to restructure the CSRD was made after narrow and exclusive consultation, consultation that did not include those most affected the region's residents and taxpayers. It is going to cost local taxpayers millions.
Decisions like this one have no place in any democratic society.
Jim Abram is director, Discovery Islands Mainland Inlets (Area J), of the Comox Strathcona Regional District.
© The Vancouver Sun 2008