Published in Lower Island News (Victoria), March 2006
Democratic socialists and progressive allies in Greater Victoria have achieved strong representation in provincial and federal politics. At the municipal level, however, right-of-centre politicians dominate public office in the Capital Regional District. The result is inaction in the face of urban sprawl and growing inequality, which conflicts with our values of solidarity, equality and sustainability. This situation must change.
In the 2005 municipal elections, right-of-centre majorities were elected in the CRD’s 13 municipalities, with far-reaching powers over land use and community services. While a handful of individual progressives were successful, they lack a cohesive vision for the region and a coordinated strategy to implement it. In the municipal councils and at the CRD board and committees, these progressives are in the minority, outnumbered by pro-development politicians.
In the City of Victoria, progressive forces were fragmented into a half-dozen distinct campaign organizations in 2005: two parallel NDP school board campaigns, the VCE/NDP council campaign, the VCE/NDP mayoral campaign, the independent progressive campaign of Rose Henry and Sue Hendricks, and the successful Green Party campaign that elected Sonya Chandler to City Hall.
Elsewhere in the CRD, Andrew Britton won by acclamation to View Royal council. Zeb King was re-elected to Central Saanich council, as was Judy Brownoff to Saanich council. In Esquimalt, Dr. Jane Stark was elected as a Green councillor.
Just imagine the possibilities if these enthusiastic campaign efforts – representing thousands of hours of volunteer labour, over $100,000 in campaign funds, a half-dozen paid staff, high-profile campaign offices, reams of leaflets and materials, thousands of lawn signs, and several dozen print, radio and television advertisements – were harnessed in a regional municipal coalition.
What would a regional municipal coalition look like? It would have to be inclusive enough to mount a determined challenge to the pro-development lobby in every CRD municipality. It would have to be focused enough to attract activists and candidates committed to an alternative vision for the CRD, based on social justice and environmental stewardship. It would have to be professional enough to articulate this alternative vision, and communicate it in a practical way. It would have to be organized enough to win majorities in some councils in the 2008 elections, and establish at least a beachhead in all the rest.
A regional municipal coalition should attract the best elements from the various social groups and social movements in the CRD – aboriginal people, organized labour, environmentalists, anti-poverty activists, progressive entrepreneurs, students, artists, parents, and seniors. Such a regional municipal coalition would be structured as an umbrella organization, with local units reflecting municipal boundaries, but also a coordinating structure to tackle region-wide issues.
A regional municipal coalition, in order to succeed as an electoral force in the near-term, would have to sidestep partisan provincial/federal alignments. NDP/Green antagonisms, like factional fights within both parties, have benefited our real political opponents – the local lieutenants of the Campbell/Harper corporate agenda. These partisan conflicts will survive in provincial and federal politics for some time to come, but we can act now to mitigate their impact at the local level.
A regional coalition requires a constitution and an internal culture capable of withstanding these divisive pressures, which are present in every organization. It could succeed to the extent that it mediates the diversity of its activists, leaves the NDP-Green debate at the door, and articulates a coherent vision for the CRD.
Some unifying policies for a regional municipal coalition include:
- Revenue Sharing on Social Services
- Rapid Transit and Sewage Treatment for the CRD
- Respect for Community and Regional Planning
- Green Belt protection to contain sprawl by completing the Sidney to Sooke ‘Sea-to-Sea’ conservation corridor
Progressives in the 13 CRD municipalities, whatever their political stripe, need to begin discussing options for greater cooperation. Chamber of Commerce-driven amalgamation is on the agenda. We must act now to organize our forces. The alternative is a top-down, undemocratic, big-box megacity that none of us want.
I have worked with hundreds of committed activists from around the CRD, on a number of diverse projects. I am confident that, collectively, we can preserve and improve our jewel on southern Vancouver Island.
