Does the UDI lobby on behalf of its paying member municipalities? I asked this question to its last 4 paying municipal members on the island.
By Sasha Izard
Nov 13, 2025
Time and again, the issue has come up and been discussed without conclusion, by ‘dazed and confused’ elected local government officials – does the Urban Development Institute (UDI) lobby on behalf of their municipalities which are paying members of it?
The UDI is an actively registered organization on the BC Lobbyists Registry, that offers political influence to its paying member organizations.
It’s a pretty basic question, yet the elected officials often can’t seem to figure out the answer.
So I posed the question to the unelected officials, after all, the municipalities that are still left in the UDI on Southern Vancouver Island, all joined the UDI lobby, as paying members, without votes by elected officials, but rather by backroom staff membership purchases using public funds.
I asked the following question by email to the top staffers of the 4 municipalities:
Does the Urban Development Institute (UDI) lobby on behalf of the respective municipality?
The following contains the responses that I either received, or didn’t receive:
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City of Victoria:
I asked the question to the City of Victoria’s City Manager Jocelyn Jenkins. She did not respond.
This is interesting, because there are some indications from Freedom of Information that City of Victoria staff did request the UDI to lobby on their behalf.
The following is among excerpts from Freedom of Information of minutes of a meeting between City of Victoria staff, and the UDI:
This and more examples can be seen in:
Letter sent to Victoria’s Mayor and Council and City Manager’s office, regarding the City’s potential withdrawal from the UDI development/real estate lobby. – CRD Watch Homepage
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Langford:
I asked the question to Langford’s Chief Administrative Officer Darren Kiedyk.
He did not respond.
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Colwood:
I asked the question to Jason Johnson, Chief Administrative Officer of Colwood on Oct 31, 2025.
Jason did not respond.
On Nov 13, 2025 I sent him a second email and asked him if he was going to answer the question.
Jason responded this time in less than 20 minutes:
No formalities, simply: “Our Corporate Officer has answered your questions and I refer you to those responses.”
He was referring it seems to a recent email dialogue that I had with another Colwood staffer Marcy Lalande, Manager of Corporate Services/Corporate Officer in regard to a freedom of information request that I made.
They wrote on Nov 10, 2025:
“The City of Colwood has not requested that UDI lobby on their behalf.”
Although that doesn’t answer the question that I posed to the CAO, it does provide a now documented piece of the puzzle.
On Nov 25, 2025 I wrote back to Jason:
Hello Jason,
The Corporate Officer wrote: “The City of Colwood has not requested that UDI lobby on their behalf.”
However, that does not answer the question that I asked you, which was: “Does the Urban Development Institute (UDI) lobby on behalf of the City of Colwood?” i.e. they could be lobbying on behalf of the City without the City having expressly requested such activity, although paying for membership as political influence is offered to its members, could very well constitute a request for lobbying on behalf of the City.
The Urban Development is actively registered on the BC Lobbyists Registry: Urban Development Institute / Anne McMullin, President & CEO – 12-Month Lobbying Summary – Lobbyists Registry – Office of the Registrar or Lobbying of BC
At the Oct 3, 2025 UDI event featuring the Premier David Eby and Bob Rennie, the president and CEO of the UDI Anne McMullin spoke the following words:
“It’s through the continued support of our members and sponsors, that we’re able to advocate for the development industry, and provide meaningful opportunities to connect and cooperate.”
– UDI President and CEO Anne McMullin
The City of Colwood is a paying member of the UDI, which as McMullin noted, is support that enables the UDI to advocate for the development industry. The UDI frequently registers advocating to describe its lobbying activities on the BC Lobbyists Registry.
If the UDI is lobbying with the support of its members, such as the City of Colwood. Is the UDI lobbying on behalf of the City of Colwood?
Thank you,
Sasha Izard
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Esquimalt:
I asked the question to Esquimalt’s Chief Administrative Officer Dan Horan.
I received the following reply from Bill Brown, the Township’s Director of Development Services:
Dear Sasha Izard,
Your e-mail to Mr. Horan related to the UDI has been forwarded to me for a response. Specifically, you asked, “does the Urban Development Institute (UDI) lobby on behalf of the Township of Esquimalt?”
I am not aware of any situation when the UDI lobbied on behalf of the Township.
Thanks.
Bill
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I replied,
Thank you Bill for the response.
“I am not aware of any situation when the UDI lobbied on behalf of the Township.”
They are registered on the BC Lobbyists registry, as lobbying extensively.
Who are they lobbying on behalf of?
Thank you again,
Sasha
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Hi Sasha,
They are lobbying on behalf of developers.
Thanks.
Bill
Note: Bill attached in his email, documentation of the UDI’s lobbying to the Township in regard to its OCP update process (See Appendix).
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I replied:
Thanks Bill,
Esquimalt is the only municipality that is a UDI member, that I have found has been consistently straightforward and helpful in its responses regarding the UDI.
Cheers,
Sasha
Note: Previously, when the UDI pulled down its members directory from public view almost 2 years previously, I asked in the interests of transparency, that its remaining municipal members indicate that they are UDI members on their own website. Esquimalt was the only municipality that complied with the request.
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Bill responded:
Thanks Sasha.
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Conclusion:
So there you have it, a bit of straightforwardness and honesty, says a lot about a municipality and about those who run it. The same goes for other branches of government. They should give it a try.
It’s the developers that the UDI is lobbying on behalf of, as Esquimalt indicated, and not the municipalities that are paying members of it, that it is simultaneously lobbying.
That said as shown previously, there are indications that the City of Victoria staff did ask the UDI to be lobbying on their behalf, in regard to giving staff more powers. Would that be lobbying on behalf of the municipality though, or lobbying on behalf of the staff of that municipality?
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Appendix: UDI Lobbying letter to the Township of Esquimalt in regard to its OCP update process.
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Update: At the Oct 3, 2025UDI event featuring Eby and Bob Rennie, the president and CEO of the UDI Anne McMullin spoke the following words:
“It’s through the continued support of our members and sponsors, that we’re able to advocate for the development industry, and provide meaningful opportunities to connect and cooperate”
– UDI President and CEO Anne McMullin
Yes, that is branches of government that are paying members of the UDI. They are paying with taxpayer dollars for the development industry to lobby themselves and other branches of government for development industry interests.
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