Opinion: Should Powell River and qathet become one gov?

OUR REGION ROCKS: Powell River, as seen from the beach glass beach on Texada. Do we really need three local governments, plus Victoria and Ottawa, to govern just over 21,000 people? Or might just two do?

Victoria did it. Halifax did it. Fort Nelson did it.

BY ISABELLE SOUTHCOTT

How would you feel if the City of Powell River became the Regional Municipality of qathet?

Think about it. We’re familiar with the name qathet now and it would solve the issue of the name problem. It could make things a whole lot simpler, or, more confusing. Again.

Less than 70 years ago, we governed ourselves through the independent villages of Wildwood, Westview, Cranberry, and the Townsite. Then in 1954, the Powell River Amalgamation Committee was formed. A plebiscite was held and the Corporation of the District of Powell River came into being in October 1955.

Next, the Powell River Regional District was incorporated in 1967; its name was changed to qathet Regional District (qRD) in 2018 “because of frequent confusion,” according to then, and still, Regional District Chair, Patrick Brazabon.

The word qathet means “working together, bringing together,” in the Coast Salish language of the Tla’amin Nation. Given that the regional district and the City both exist in this landlocked community on the upper Sunshine Coast, would it make sense for us to marry our two governments and the name because, at the end of the day, isn’t it in our best interest to work together?

Maybe, maybe not.

If this was to happen, we wouldn’t be the only City and Regional District to share a name. The City of North Vancouver and the District of North Vancouver also share a name (and have for over 100 years) yet the district of North Vancouver is a much larger area completely surrounding the City of North Vancouver on three sides. The City of North Vancouver has a denser, more urban population, while the district doesn’t have much of a downtown core.

In 2018 councillors from both the City and District of North Vancouver voted unanimously to consider amalgamating. Councillors noted amalgamation could really help traffic and community planning move ahead.

Here in qathet, the regional district went the other way when it came to a name. In a 2020 interview with Business View Magazine the qRD’s CAO Al Radke, said the then Powell River Regional District was receiving a lot of the City of Powell River’s mail and vice versa. He also said the RD didn’t really have their own identity. In June of 2017 the qRD was gifted the name qathet and in July of 2018 the name changed.

I grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and as a young adult lived in Dartmouth, Lower Sackville, Fall River, and Windsor Junction, Nova Scotia. All these communities were within commuting distance of where I worked in Halifax but they were all separate.

Then not too long after I moved out west, things changed and the City of Halifax, the City of Dartmouth, the Town of Bedford and the Municipality of the County of Halifax amalgamated and merged into a new, single, municipal unit called the Halifax Regional Municipality or the HRM.

The Nova Scotia merger was done because a more efficient county wide system was needed but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Many of the predicted cost savings did not materialize and staff from rural areas demanded to be paid at the same rate as their urban counterparts.

Halifax is not alone. In 1998, Toronto amalgamated the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and its six lower-tier constituent municipalities, East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York and the original City of Toronto.

A few months ago Victoria announced the City would be moving forward with a citizens’ assembly to investigate potential amalgamation between the City of Victoria and the District of Saanich.

CORE MUNICIPAL BIZ: What if building bylaws and permitting were the same across the entire region?

We have a population of 21,500-ish people living in a landlocked, ferry-dependent community with a geographic area of 5,075 kilometres (north of Toba Inlet and south to Saltery Bay including Texada, Savary and Lasqueti Islands). We have two local governments for this population. Two municipal entities, two governments, two names – plus Tla’amin – all trying to figure out how work together at the top of the Sunshine Coast.

Do we have an overlap in how we govern and service this community? Do we spend more money because we have two separate governments running qathet Regional District and the City of Powell River? Do we really need two separate governments here? Is it efficient? Or is it just one of those things that we do because it is what we have always done and it would take too much work to change it?

Both the City and the RD have separate offices. City Hall is located at 6910 Duncan Street and the qRD’s office is at 4675 Marine Avenue. They have their own staff, both have Chief Administrative officers – the City has Russell Brewer and the RD has Al Radke. As well, they both have their own planning departments and financial departments.

Municipalities across the country—small and large – have experienced restructuring and mergers in the past several decades.

The Districts of Abbotsford and Matsqui amalgamated in 1995. In this case, the two municipalities debated the pros and cons for years before holding two referenda on the subject.

A 1990 vote was defeated but a 1993 referendum passed. Amalgamation is not a short-term proposition; it can take decades to achieve, but there can be important long-term benefits including a greater capacity for shared projects, long term planning and a stronger regional presence.

In 2009, Fort Nelson, the only incorporated town in the Northern Rockies Regional District, amalgamated with the district to become the Northern Rockies Regional District Municipality. Today, the entire 85,014 square kilometre area is run as a municipal government with a mayor and councillors.

This question isn’t new here, of course; politicos have tossed the idea of amalgamation around for years. But 2022 is probably a particularly ripe time to raise the prospect seriously.

It would potentially simplify the name change question.

Reducing duplication in administration would help manage our ever-increasing tax bills.

And, we’re just electing new representatives this month.