A commentary by a former mayor of Victoria.
Victoria city council, like councils across the province and country, is faced with the increasing challenge each year of providing services to residents and building and maintaining infrastructure, with a funding formula that has essentially been the same since 1867.
The expectations of residents and the responsibilities of cities have changed drastically – think homelessness, the opioid crisis and climate change to name the big ones.
Yet cities have no more revenue-raising tools, beyond property taxes and utility fees, than they did when Canada was founded. And cities – unlike provinces, territories, and the federal government – cannot run deficits; each year they must balance their budgets.
Council wisely asked staff to report back on options to reduce the tax increase this year and next. This is an important goal. The cost of living for residents and the cost of doing business are real stressors right now. An equally important goal – and a guiding principle for council’s decision making – is to take a long-term view when it comes to the city budget.
These are a few of the proposed key service and program cuts on the chopping block where a forward-looking rather than a short-term approach is necessary.
My Great Neighbourhood Grants
According to the City’s website, “the My Great Neighbourhood Grant projects are all about building community. The program provides residents with funding (between $1,000 and $7,500) for initiatives that develop and enhance a sense of community in their neighbourhood.” Every dollar invested by the city must be matched by community.
A 2023 report issued by the former U.S. Surgeon General, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, notes that “lacking social connection can increase the risk for premature death as much as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day,” and can lead to a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke.
Loneliness and social isolation cost. The My Great Neighbourhood grant program is a low-cost investment with high long-term returns including the health, happiness and connection of residents with each other and with their neighbourhoods. This ultimately creates a stronger, more resilient city.
Youth Transit Pass Program
I’m 47 years old and grew up in Ontario. In 1981, when I was five, Kitchener, Ontario launched the world’s first blue box curbside recycling program which quickly spread across the province and the country. My generation grew up with the blue box; there are few 91原创s my age or younger who would toss a pop can into the garbage. The blue box program created a long-term approach to how we treat our waste.
Victoria’s youth transit pass program works in the same way. Offering every kid in Victoria ages 13-18 a free transit pass creates a generation of transit riders, shaping long-term transportation habits and reducing congestion. It has the added benefit over time of lowering greenhouse gas emissions, especially as B.C. Transit moves to a low-carbon fleet. Mitigating the impact of climate change now has long-term cost savings.
South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP)
While locally SIPP is on the chopping block, it was held up at a recent State of 91原创 Cities conference in Ottawa as the best example of regional economic development in Canada.
Strong metropolitan economic development organizations create a stable base to weather economic downturns, recover quickly, and grow for the future.
As a response to the economic turmoil of the pandemic, SIPP created the Rising Economy Task Force. A key action from this task force to benefit downtown Victoria and the region was the creation of COAST – the Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technologies.
COAST is a blue economy hub and cluster that has attracted millions of dollars in federal and provincial funding and private sector investment and is creating new companies with high-value clean jobs.
British Columbia and Canada are on the eve of a potential recession if Trump’s tariffs come into office with him. SIPP is the city and the region’s best hope for weathering the storm that is sure to follow.
Taking a long-term view means making tough decisions about what to keep and what to cut. These are three key investments among many that council can protect to help balance the budget between now and the future, to serve the residents and taxpayers of Victoria today and for a long time to come.
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