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A Letter from the Capital

By Arthur McInnis
Sept 24, 2026


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Victoria’s mayor and councillors have complained about the provincial election being held at the same time as the municipal election. One imagines the response from the Premier’s Office might read something like this:

Dear Municipal Delivery Partners,

We apologize for scheduling the provincial election on top of yours.

We recognize that this may make it difficult for voters to distinguish between the government making the decisions and the council required to implement them.

Please understand that the timing is not intended to diminish the importance of municipal government. We value local democracy, particularly when it produces the results required by provincial legislation.

Your council has responded promptly to provincial housing directives, approved the necessary zoning changes and generally avoided placing local objections in the way of provincial priorities. That cooperation has been noticed.

Some have suggested that holding both elections at once makes the municipal contest appear secondary. That is unfortunate. Your election remains important. Someone, after all, must administer the decisions made elsewhere.

To make amends, we will continue to refer to you as “partners” and consult you whenever consultation will not affect the outcome.

If you are re-elected, we will send each of you a current copy of the Local Government Act, with our amendments highlighted, so you will always know where your authority ends.

It ends early.

Yours in partnership,

Office of the Premier

P.S. A council that accepts the role of implementing the province’s agenda should not be surprised when the province treats its own election as the one that matters.

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Index of articles revealing major lobbying influence on B.C. Provincial Housing Bills and Housing Targets. – CRD Watch Homepage

How the Development and Real Estate Lobby Pressed Mandatory Housing Targets, Mass Upzoning, Captured Official Community Plans, and Made the Shutting Down of Public Hearings the Norm in British Columbia Under the NDP Government – CRD Watch Homepage