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Victoria, BC.  Home of 13 communities, three hundred and fifty thousand people, seven different police forces and thirteen fire departments.  Yup.  7 police and 13 fire departments.  An amalgamation of the 13 aforementioned communities should have happened years ago.  The polite types suggest the provincial governments have had and do not have an ‘appetite’ to take this on.  I say, they haven’t and do not have the balls (Read ‘courage’) to do the right thing.  In fact, the current Solicitor General of British Columbia, Shirley Bond, quite recently said, “There is no appetite in the region to force a single police department in Greater Victoria.”  Say what??!!  Another wonderful example of a politician completely out of touch with her constituents.

Think of it, 7 different police and 13 fire departments and municipal councils in an area the size of one small Toronto suburb!  Anyone with eyes to see, easily understands the need for ONE CRD police force, fire department, city council and regional municipality designation.

We are running up against two obstructions to successfully achieving the aforementioned, both psychological or behavioural, if you will.  The first is what I mentioned earlier, an extreme lack of courage on the part of the current and previous provincial governments.  Secondly,  is the reluctance of the ‘power holders’ at the municipal levels, to give up said power.  It apparently matters not a whit, that amalgamation is vastly the better approach for our region.  Power-grasping is the thing, you see . .. . .This can be likened to the ‘not in my backyard’ syndrome.

Oh, to have leaders with vision,honour and integrity.  Are there none of you out there anymore?