My View

Municipal governments continue to take on greater responsibility as senior governments, especially the provincial government, continue to devolve to the local level what were formerly provincial responsibilities. Municipal governments today seem left to "manage in the middle," a sometimes precarious place where they teeter between increasing public demand on one side and senior levels of government opting out on the other. Not an easy place to be, particularly when local governments sit squarely on the front lines of our communities and are the most visible, closest to us and with the greatest impact on our daily lives. With all of this in mind, it's no wonder that small municipalities like North Saanich need the support and involvement of the community to help get things done.

When ordinary residents who run for and are elected to political office (your local Mayor and Council), they can be your friend, your neighbour, attend your church, share your kids' carpool, belong to your health club, volunteer with you, work with you or belong to your service club --- this is certainly true in North Saanich and these relationships and personal connections are part of what makes this such a great small community. But when these ordinary relationships are tested by extraordinary circumstances, it may be unavoidable that personal dynamics take on a political dimension.

This is especially true in dealing with conflict where emotions can run high and people can arrive "loaded for bear" based on what they believe or think they know to be true about a given situation. Added to the fact that North Saanich residents tend to be passionate about land use and their quality of life, the potential for vocal public reaction to local government is always present. After all, public participation is the hallmark of democracy and in a small community; it's easier to get involved and to make a difference.

But when public participation is expressed by aggressive, demeaning or intimidating behaviour towards others, especially during Council meetings where issues and people often collide, I feel that we all share a responsibility to one another to demonstrate respect and decorum inside the Council Chamber, no matter how heated the argument or strong the disagreement. In fact, the Council Chamber is much like a Courtroom -- the role of Mayor and Council is quasi-judicial and decisions are guided by legislation, policies and procedures.

I am encouraged to see the public attending and participating in Council meetings. I am discouraged when anger and bad manners appear to overshadow the proceedings. All of us, including the public, the Mayor, members of Council and municipal staff owe it to each other to behave respectfully, no matter how much we disagree or how difficult or sensitive the issue is at the time. Eighteenth Century Irish-born novelist Lurence Sterne put it something like this: "Self-respect guides our morality. Respect for others guides our manners" -- worth remembering.

CRD Septic Bylaw

SOME NORTH SAANICH COUNCIL MEMBERS NOT SO PUMPED UP ABOUT PROPOSED CRD SEPTIC BYLAW

We first learned in 2008 about the CRD's proposed bylaw to de-regulate monitoring and maintenance of septic systems to the private sector and rely on the industry to collect and provide data to the CRD for their database that would tell them when property owners in the region needed to pump out their tanks.

The pump-out cycle was only every 5 years, and failed to involve inspection of septic fields or anything else related to the system. I strenuously opposed North Saanich's participation in this bylaw, arguing that half of North Saanich properties are on septic systems and that we should develop and implement our own monitoring and maintenance process that would meet local needs and actually involve inspection to protect health and the environment. But I lost the battle when the majority of the previous Council voted to participate in the CRD bylaw.

Supporting the bylaw also meant an annual total parcel tax of $40,000 paid by property owners with septic systems. I believed that the municipality and property owners were paying too much for not much.

Then, last week, the bylaw came back to the new Council for adoption. New Council members began raising similar issues to mine, including:

• Cost to individual North Saanich property owners for a service that provides little protection and nothing more than a database.
• De-regulation and lack of local government oversight that put health and the environment at risk.
• The role of CRD as nothing more than a gatekeeper.
• Reliance on private industry sector to provide information to build and maintain the database (should industry regulate itself?).
• Absence of any inspection process that looks at the whole septic system, especially the field, for potential failures.
• Exclusion of type 1 Septic Systems - the oldest known system in North Saanich and the one most prone to failure.
• Inadequate pumping schedule of every 5 years (shouldn't it be every 2 or 3 years?).
• Lack of local government involvement to enforce safety and address local issues in an expeditious manner.

As a result of this new perspective by a new Council, the Mayor has introduced a motion to repeal the bylaw, providing North Saanich with the chance of opting out. Further, in yesterday's Times-Colonist and Vancouver Sun newspapers, health officials are heavily criticizing the B.C. government's de-regulated approach to septic system monitoring, maintenance and inspection and warning the government about subsequent safety and health issues. In the Friday, March 6th edition of the Times-Colonist, the B.C. government has agreed to take another look at the legislation in time for the next UBCM convention in September.

Stay tuned for further news on this topic. At next Wednesday's CRD Board meeting (March 11), the bylaw will be introduced for voting and adoption. I suspect that in view of recent events in North Saanich, in the media and at the provincial level, the future of this bylaw is anything but certain.