A few months ago, former Vancouver mayor and B.C. premier Mike Harcourt openly suggested amalgamation as a possible solution to the governance challenges that have plagued the province’s Lower Mainland. Harcourt argued that Metro Vancouver would be better served if we only had “six to eight” municipalities, instead of more than 20 with shifting priorities and differing levels of influence.

The complexities of running Metro Vancouver have not been lost on residents, especially when decisions about how to spend billions of dollars are in the hands of local politicians who sit on boards as an additional activity from their duties as councillors. There are also questions about remuneration, as well as the fact that some of our current public servants were elected by minuscule proportions of eligible voters: fewer than one in five in Burnaby and fewer than one in four in Richmond.

Discussions about the possible amalgamation of Victoria and Saanich on Vancouver Island have been going on for years, with some residents hoping that a question—binding or not—can be included in the ballots that will be used in next year’s municipal election.

We recently asked a sizeable sample of Metro Vancouverites—in order to provide an accurate analysis of regional........

© BIV