Brandishing airhorns and boards with catchy slogans, a few dozen Saanich residents gathered at the intersection of Quadra Street and McKenzie Avenue to protest the district’s $150-million AAP borrowing plan to rebuild its operations centre.
At the forefront of the June 10 demonstration was Save Our Saanich (SOS) co-founder Nancy Di Castri and member Stuart Hackett who both vehemently opposed council’s stance.
Described as a method of seeking electoral approval for local government initiatives by district staff, the alternative approval process (AAP) allows residents to oppose the borrowing plan by submitting a response form. If more than 10 per cent of eligible voters (8,735 residents) do so by the June 25 deadline, the initiative will not proceed. Conversely, if less than 10 per cent respond in opposition, the plan will be considered approved by electors and will move forward.
For the community group, the problem lies at the heart of the AAP, a process they said lacks both transparency and public input.
“If you're borrowing money on our behalf and you're asking us to pay it back – and our taxes have already gone up – then the least you could do is be transparent and let us go to the ballot box,” said Di Castri.
“I think it's very anti-democratic,” added Hackett. “It’s like you agree unless you don't agree, and that's not the way democracy works.
“Your silence means you agree… We're saying we want a choice.”
Both Hackett and Di Castri, who have tried to raise awareness about this AAP, said most Saanich residents are not even aware of the plan. As a result, they argued that many might not exercise their right to vote on a proposal that would lead to a 0.85 per cent tax increase for homeowners.
The plan also includes annual utility bill increases over four years: $3.60 for water, $4 for sewer, and $1.70 for solid waste services.
“It's incumbent upon Saanich to let the voters and the taxpayers know and let them go to the polls and vote ‘yes’ or ‘no,’” said Di Castri.
Instead of pursuing the AAP route for a project of this scale, the community group is calling for a district-wide referendum, regardless of the potential price increase such a vote might entail.
“When I contacted the mayor, he indicated that having a referendum would cost $300,000,” said Hackett. “That's a lot of money, but that's only 0.2 per cent of the amount they want to borrow.”
As the protest gained momentum, Coun. Nathalie Chambers joined the demonstration, lending her support to the cause.
Like SOS, Chambers agrees the district’s aging operations centre needs to be replaced, but she opposed the AAP process.
The 13.2-acre site, which currently employs about 250 people, serves as the primary hub for services including water, sewer, roads, parks, solid waste collection and fleet maintenance. Built between the 1950s and 1970s, the buildings are now considered Saanich's “highest priority site” for redevelopment.
“It's the hub of so many of our essential services,” said Chambers. “However, I disagree very strongly with this $150 million AAP and the short time frame in which residents can opt out.
“I think that's very undemocratic, and most people don’t even know about this, so it's very unfair. It's almost like silence is consent.”
Having put forward a notice of motion to extend the June 25 deadline to early August, citing the need for robust public input to ensure transparency and engagement, her motion failed after receiving no seconder in council on June 9.
Coming amid tight financial times and several costly projects ahead, including the Quadra McKenzie Plan, Fire Station Two, and a recent $9.6M AAP – which received 300 opposing votes – she said this latest AAP is a hard pill to swallow for many residents.
“We trust our elected officials to make good decisions in the public interest. I don't think that not informing the residents is in the public's interest.”
In an interview with Saanich News following the protest, Mayor Dean Murdock emphasized that the AAP route was necessary, as the district “no longer has the luxury of more time” to replace its parks and public works facilities.
“A referendum… would mean a delay in advancing the project,” said Murdock. “Given the current inflationary environment when it comes to construction costs, that's likely to add many millions to the costs of the project… and just further kick the can down the road.
“This will only add more burden to taxpayers and ultimately compromise the integrity of the buildings that are there at the moment.”
According to Murdock, this is a scenario the municipality has already faced more than a decade ago, one he says he doesn’t want to repeat.
“When this was identified as a priority almost 10 years ago… we probably could have replaced the buildings with half of today's costs, but unfortunately, further delay in moving it forward has just inflated those costs.”
Believing that city staff were thorough in their approach to informing the public, through information sessions, public engagement, and social media posts, Murdock said he now awaits the results.
“I'm not seeing an overwhelming amount of opposition,” he said. “Of course we will find out when the AAP concludes… but we've done our part to state the case for approval of the borrowing, and I'm hopeful that most Saanich residents agree that even if this is not not their favourite project, they recognize that this is really essential to delivering the services that they rely on.”
Residents can submit their vote to the District of Saanich, in person at the municipal hall (770 Vernon Ave.), from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Forms can also be submitted by using the secure drop box after hours, by mail, or by sending a scanned copy via email.
More information, including background documents and response forms, is available at saanich.ca and the district’s public engagement site, hellosaanich.ca.
