Vote No
to Amalgamation of Victoria and Saanich
Victoria and Saanich are thriving places with great people. However, these places are in different stages of development, and need independent governments to take their next steps.
Amalgamation in Canada has never delivered promised "efficiency" cost savings, and has an especially poor track record in the urban parts of cities.
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"A vast amount of research has found that consolidation fails to produce promised cost savings, rarely leads to more efficient service delivery, and reduces the ability of citizens to be involved in the life of their local governments." - Deamalgamation in Canada -- Breaking Up is Hard To Do, Fraser Institute 2015
History of Amalgamation in Canada
The past is the key to understanding the present; and municipal amalgamation has a dismal history.
Toronto: a city still divided
In 1998 Toronto was forced (by the Conservative provincial government) to amalgamate with its suburbs, despite a 75% NO referendum vote a year earlier.
The result of amalgamation has been suburban-dominated conservative city councils that have handcuffed decision making for the city at large. A plurality of suburban voters have persistently opposed new housing and transit solutions for city residents.
Amalgamation gave Toronto (and Ontario) the Ford brothers, ended the "Transit City" transportation plan, and has left Toronto unable to move forward with clear direction.
Read more:
Toronto Election Highlights Failure of Amalgamation
Council votes to allow sixplexes in 9 Toronto wards, leaving suburbs to opt in
Ottawa: larger, less livable
In 2001, Ottawa amalgamated a region larger than the combined areas of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal.
At more than 2700 square kilometres, "Ottawa City" is bigger than 27 independent nations.
It has deep challenges managing suburban, rural, and urban issues, with core city interests that are regularly out-voted by the suburbs.
Read more:
Halifax: too big to govern
Halifax amalgamated into a regional municipality in 1996. Its municipal government is currently removing critical transportation infrastructure and stopping new housing development. Its proposed 2025 municipal development plan was rejected by the provincial government for not doing enough on housing.
Read more:
Dismantling Democracy: the 30-year project to take power away from the people
Sudbury: forgotten towns
Sudbury is home to one of the world's greatest mineral deposits, but its forced amalgamation has left its former towns struggling for basic services and representation.
Twenty years later, Sudbury is still struggling with the disruption brought on by forced amalgamation in 2001 by the Ontario Progressive Conservative party.
"No one has ever presented any evidence that overall services improved in the new city. No one even tried to collect the data. Amalgamation was driven by ideology." - link
Read more:
The City of Greater Sudbury's amalgamation has failed. Give us our town back
Mayoral race: Almost 20 years after amalgamation, city still isn't united, Melanson says
Montreal: Thriving After Deamalgamation
Montreal was forced to amalgamate with its surrounding suburbs in 2002 by the Provincial Parti Quebeçois, but successfully voted to de-amalgamate in a 2004 referendum.
Montreal is arguably Canada's strongest urban municipality, and has made enormous strides in livability for its residents over the past twenty years.
Read more:
Deamalgamation in Canada -- Breaking Up is Hard To Do
2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal
The Merger Delusion: How Swallowing Its Suburbs Made an Even Bigger Mess of Montreal (hardcopy available via contact email)
Amalgamation was sold with a few simple promises:
It would save money. It didn’t.
It would improve service delivery. It didn’t.
It would create stronger, more unified communities. It didn’t.
Instead, what the people got was:
A government too large to listen and too distant to care,
Bloated departments and runaway budgets,
A planning machine that erased communities with plans and visions of their own,
And a capital city that now grows without purpose, destroys without vision, and spends without discipline.
© 2025 Stop Amalgamation Victoria
