Correspondence from P. & J. Fogh-Dohmsmidt re: Amalgamation Question

Re: Amalgamation Question on 2014 Ballot

We have been residents of Saanich since June 1993 and we owned a business for 15 years, with locations in the City of Victoria and the Town of Sidney. Since coming to the Victoria area we have always wondered why there were so many municipalities governing so few people.

We came from the City of Thunder Bay where we experienced the amalgamation of two core cities and two rural municipalities in 1969. The first two years were a struggle to get over the parochial attitudes but gradually the citizens realized the benefits of much better governance and, ultimately, cost savings. Since amalgamation, the city hosted the 1981 Canada Summer Games, built a large community auditorium and built a very successful new hospital - none of which would have been possible had the two core municipalities continued to stonewall each other as had been the practice for the previous 50 years.

By speaking with one voice when talking to provincial and federal governments, the City of Thunder Bay has benefited tremendously. The same could happen for the citizens of greater Victoria.

This letter is to request that the Town of View Royal place a question on the ballot in the November 2014 election. By asking the electorate to vote on the question "Are you in favour of reducing the number of municipalities in the Capital Regional District through amalgamation" the Council will get a reading as to whether or not the electorate would be willing to study, consult, and discuss the merits of amalgamation.

We believe that the question of amalgamation is one that needs to be seriously looked at and that the electorate should be given its democratic right to decide on this important issue.

Thank you for considering this matter.

Yours truly,

Paul Fogh-Dohmsmidt Jane Fogh-Dohmsmidt