dailynewsnblog
The mayor of a town near Victoria says the province should not apply a one-size-fits-all approach to certain policies.
View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias, who said he will not be running for re-election, said in a meeting last week that he believes relations with the BC NDP are at a historic low.
“One of the interesting observations that I have is, I think we are starting to lose our grip on how fragile democracies really are,” Tobias said at the Oct. 14 meeting.
“I think that cabinet has isolated itself from any input and I think that is dangerous,” he said.
“I mean, that puts the power of decision-making into a few people’s hands. They’re saying, “We know what’s best’.”
Tobias pointed to the NDP’s housing policy, calling Bill 25, which would legislate changes to parking requirements in small-scale, multi-unit builds “troublesome.”
“With one stroke, the province has rezoned View Royal and now all of these cars will spill into our streets,” he said.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
He added that it is the province’s continued use of non-disclosure agreements prior to these discussions that ultimately threatens transparency.
“You know, the public deserves that all decisions made by governments are done in open light, so that we can look at them and learn from them.”
B.C. Housing Minister Christine Boyle told Global News that there are reasons they ask for non-disclosure agreements for certain conversations.
“Both, because we want to be able to have a frank conversation and hear honest feedback from local government leaders on the ground to inform our policy, also, because there are certain policies, particularly in housing, that have commercial impacts and so, we need to be cautious,” she said.
The Township of View Royal is represented exclusively by BC NDP MLAs, but with a population now topping more than 11,000, Tobias is calling on residents to do more than just vote.
“I think that it is important that the folks in View Royal step up and have not only a say, but run for the election next year,” Tobias said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
