Residents of Gibsons, West Howe Sound and Elphinstone will be casting their votes Nov. 18 on whether to form into a new municipality, but the structure of the vote count has yet to be decided.
Ida Chong, B.C.'s minister of community services, approved the independent restructure committee's recommendation to hold a referendum on the issue in a recent letter. "I accept the committee's recommendation that a vote be held, unreservedly," Chong wrote in her Aug. 9 letter to the restructure committee chair Dave Hargreaves. "I agree with the committee that it is important for the residents to decide the matter of restructure. Regardless of the result, the vote will bring closure to this municipal restructure study process that has been ongoing for several years."
Chong proposed the Nov. 18 date to allow time for the consultant to update his technical report and for public consultation.
Hargreaves said he was not surprised she had approved the committee's recommendation to hold a vote.
"I think she obviously agreed with the recommendation that the population should decide," Hargreaves said.
Chong is holding off on the vote structure decision until September.
The restructure committee had recommended one overall vote count take place across the two regional areas and the Town of Gibsons. The two Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) area directors Lorne Lewis and Lee Turnbull advocated for three vote counts - one for Elphinstone, one for West Howe Sound and one for Gibsons. The Town supports two vote counts - one for the combined rural areas and one for the town.
"Each of these perspectives has some validity, and there is no clear-cut answer to the question of which structure for the vote is most appropriate," Chong wrote. "However, I recognize that this is a difficult and potentially divisive issue for the community. Therefore, it is my intention to wait until early September, when the order for the vote is to be approved, until making a decision on this matter. This will provide more time for local discussion of the issue, and for further opinion to be given to the ministry."
Both the mayor of Gibsons and chair of the SCRD were disappointed the minister postponed the vote structure decision.
"She has delayed the biggest question of all and that is the structure of the vote," Gibsons Mayor Barry Janyk said. "I was surprised that she didn't come through with a definitive decision at this point."
Further local discussion on the issue would just be repeating the same opinions that have already been articulated, he added."I was disappointed that she didn't make a decision on the voting structure," SCRD chair John Rees said. "I thought that was an extremely important item." Chong suggested a new committee be struck to "review the range of process items that will need some local input."
Rees thinks that now until November is insufficient time to strike the new committee, update the consultant's report, then bring the updated report to the public for review.
"I think there is a bit of a time squeeze here now," Rees said.
