PENINSULA
NEWS REVIEW
Welcome back the Anacortes Ferry
Who’s who in the zoo
The Town of Sidney hopes people will turn out Sunday for a party to greet the first ferry run of 2013, page 4
There are now only eight people running for two seats in the District of Central Saanich by-election, page 3
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
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Peninsula communities mull merger Politicians remain neutral for now on the question of amalgamation Steven Heywood News staff
Talking about amalgamation is fraught with pitfalls, as councillors around the table of a recent tri-municipal meeting were quick to point out. They are, however, taking a few tentative steps into gathering information about what amalgamation might mean for the Saanich Peninsula. Three mayors and chief administrative officers from the Saanich Peninsula will meet to discuss how to go about getting more information on amalgamation. The decision to do so was made at the joint council meeting between the district of Central Saanich and North Saanich and the Town of Sidney on March 13. The politicians were quick to point out this move is only being made to seek information and is neither pronor-anti amalgamation. “The intent is not to jump right into amalgamation,” said former Central Saanich councillor Adam Olsen. He was asked to speak to the issue, as it was at his prompting that the district council voted to put amalgamaAlastair Bryson tion on the table of the tri-municipal meeting. “I could not answer questions about amalgamation when I was on council, there are too many questions,” he continued, “but there’s an opportunity for the three councils to look into it.” Olsen said the topic was raised by residents when Central Saanich began talking about spending a lot of money to replace its municipal hall and police services building. Central Saanich Mayor Alastair Bryson said his logic in looking at the issue stems from a question of whether maintaining separate identities as municipalities is more or less expensive than amalgamating into one, larger government structure. PLEASE SEE: Mayors to gather information, page 6
Steven Heywood/News staff
Sidney’s St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church volunteers Ned Nedzelski and Gabe Mallouk stir the pots during the Friendly Hours soup kitchen, which is open to the public from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays.