Saanich needs fairness for all

Saanich has allocated $170,000 for a review of municipal governance. Let’s start at the top.

“Fairness for all” should be the mission statement and motto of all municipalities. Saanich has not always performed to this measure.

For example, on the deer problem, councillors protected themselves by ignoring the issue, leaving farmers and gardeners to feed the voracious herbivores and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in protective fences and gates.

With the Environmental Development Permit Area bylaw, Saanich commandeered a 30-metre strip of homeowners’ property (by aerial mapping) in a dubious experiment in the hope of encouraging native species. This affected 2,200 homes of the 50,000 in Saanich, reducing their property values and restricting the owners’ use of their land that they are taxed on.

The outrage of those affected has resulted in Saanich spending $50,000 on an external review. This situation is the equivalent of charging only homes on a bus route for the entire cost of public transportation, whether or not they take the bus.

In fairness, residents affected by the disruption at the McKenzie interchange and on Shelbourne Street deserve some recompense. The majority have to pay the debt to the few.

Councillors are an essential, valuable and over-extended component of government. Many of their difficult decisions extend beyond the stretch of common sense. However, justice and fairness do not, and in this era of arrogant and wobbly leadership, it is time for a steadfast commitment from our own grassroots. Michael Ross Saanich