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Esquimalt Staff decided that they would not attend paid UDI events anymore.

This marks a new departure, the first to be seen and one that should be emulated by other municipalities and branches of government for the full separation of lobby and state.

However, the Township will continue its meetings with the UDI’s liaison committee.

By Sasha Izard

April 16, 2026

The Township of Esquimalt’s departure from the UDI this year, had been something of a mystery. The councillors themselves seemed the most confused, having provided many different narratives often contradicting each other and even sometimes themselves; so I made an FOI request to the Township to find answers, if only for the purposes of chronology, and to learn a bit about the circumstances of the membership withdrawal.

The FOI response did provide some interesting information.

On March 3, 2026, Victoria City Council decided to end the City’s UDI lobby membership. The process took about half a year, since the original Council Members Motion calling for withdrawal was put forward the previous September.

The City of Victoria withdraws its UDI lobby membership. – CRD Watch Homepage

The following day on March 4, 2026 – The Township of Esquimalt’s Director of Development Services wrote to the UDI informing them that the Township will not be renewing its UDI membership in 2026.

The UDI promptly responded:

On March 10, 2026 the UDI wrote back that the Township’s UDI membership had successfully been cancelled.

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On March 4, 2026, only 15 minutes before the email that township staff sent to the UDI informing them at they would not be renewing the membership in 2026, an email circulated among those concerned with the issue, indicated that Esquimalt staff will not be making a payment to the UDI in 2026, as they did not see that it provided value.

The email continued:

“staff have confirmed that they have recently attended free webinars organized by UDI but no longer attend paid events.”