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Oak Bay officials want concerns addressed Page A3
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OAK BAYNEWS Friday, November 21, 2014
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By the seashore Pat Doheny of Oak Bay takes in the sunshine as she enjoys the view from the Oak Bay Marina. Dan Ebenal/News Staff
Oak Bay alone in opposition to amalgamation Seven other communities say yes to studies Christine van Reeuwyk News Staff
Oak Bay is the lone one of eight communities where residents opposed a non-binding referendum question on amalgamation on their ballots. Oak Bay voters rejected amalgamation by a 62 per cent margin, 3,594 to 2,184. “There was a clear sentiment that people in Oak Bay don’t want to
amalgamate so I was confident that would be the outcome. There’s a clear mandate from residents that Oak Bay should not be moving in that direction,” said Mayor Nils Jensen. “There are other ways we can create efficiencies and avoid duplication. We have a small and very efficient staff. We’re very cost conscious.” The electorate, however, approved a study on amalgamation in seven of eight communities that held a non-binding referendum question, many calling for public consultation and a provincial study on regional governance. North Saanich, Central Saanich, Langford,
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Esquimalt, Victoria, Sidney and Saanich also had questions. “When you look at the questions that were asked, who wouldn’t invite the province to pay for a study?” Jensen said, noting Langford had the most similar question and narrowly earned the nod from residents. “I think it’s a clear mandate for council that residents don’t want to move forward with respect to amalgamation.” The citizens group that led the charge to add the questions to municipal ballots, Amalgamation Yes, says those councils now need to engage the province to
develop a public consultation and study process to explore models of governance. “The electorate has spoken and now is the time for action. Amalgamation Yes is expecting that local officials will move forward with the governance review in the near future and will be asking the province to take a leadership role in facilitating the process,” said John Vickers, spokesperson for AmalgamationYes. PlEASE SEE: Province commits resources to study, Page A2
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