Dear friends and neighbours:

Here's a telephone poll question that you've not yet heard:

How much tax money are you willing to see spent by the province and local governments to split your regional district into two?

No amount is too much?
Up to $20M?
Up to $1million?
Up to $100,000?
Nothing whatsoever?

In July, without any prior consultation, the BC Ministry of Community Services advised the Comox Strathcona Regional District (CSRD) that it would be split into two. The boundary between the two smaller regional districts has been assumed to be the Oyster River. This split would have significant human, financial, and physical asset implications for CSRD. The Board decided to undertake a detailed analysis of the impacts of this direction, and engaged the reputable accounting/auditing firm Meyers Norris Penny LLP (MNP) to assist in the analysis, anticipating that MNP‚s independence would result in conclusions that are sound and reasonable.

The CSRD's 149 services were examined in detail with an eye on the following objectives:

a) determine the most cost-efficient service delivery model during the transition period and post-transition,
b) arrive at an estimate of the unavoidable costs associated with the restructure,
c) determine the most practical means of addressing asset, liability, and reserve transfers, and
d) determine the impact of the restructure on CSRD management and staff.

If that sounds to you like a complex undertaking, it was. You can read the executive summary of the huge MNP report on the CSRD website, www.comoxstrathcona.ca .

That summary, however, does NOT include the "obvious unavoidable costs" identified by MNP because the Board has not yet made those public. But I can tell you that it is not peanuts! My most pessimistic guesses prior to seeing the report were way too low. And MNP recognizes that even more costs would be identified as a transition moved forward.

MNP recommends the creation of a shared services corporation as the least costly service delivery model if the CSRD split were to happen. One of the perceived disadvantages of this model is that taxpayers would likely lose some influence in a corporation‚s management because it would be insulated from them. With a services corporation, there could well be a loss of political oversight.

But the report also recognizes that "there would be unjustified duplication of costs" if the two smaller regional districts each assumed responsibility for directly delivering the particular services within their respective regions. A complete split would be even more expensive than following the shared corporation model, in MNP's estimation.

What all this tells me is that Comox Strathcona is already cost-efficient, effective, and fully functional. So why the dismemberment?

That's the multi-million-dollar question!

If it ain't broke, why fix it? And the good initiatives in the provincial directive, like a mandated growth management strategy for the Comox Valley, could proceed without a split.

Despite strong objections and recent UBCM resolutions, Minister Chong has stated that she will not change her mind, that the split would go ahead early in 2008 regardless of the costs.

This is where your action is required, AND ASAP! Please give this issue some of your time today. I strongly believe that public input is essential, and it's needed right now.

Write to Premier Gordon Campbell at Premiergov.bc.ca and Parliament Buildings, Victoria V8V 1X4 -- and please cc the CSRD Board at administrationrdcs.bc.ca.

Write short, focussed letters to the editors of the local press (see bottom for email addresses).
Talk with your CSRD director, whether you live in a municipality or a rural electoral area.

Please forward this email to all your contacts.
The CSRD Board has not endorsed the dismemberment. This is an arbitrary exercise of provincial power, without precedent in BC, a "pilot project" to explore how to restructure regional districts. CSRD is the intended guinea pig, and it's going to be an expensive waste of taxpayers' funds unless it can be stopped. There are so many good things that your tax money could pay for instead! Please take action today.

And if you have any questions or comments, please contact me at tomdaleshaw.ca or 334-8838 or 332-5287.

Yours sincerely,

Tom Pater
Director, Kyuquot-Nootka (Electoral Area G)
Comox Strathcona Regional District

Local press contacts:

Comox Valley Echo
echocomoxvalleyecho.com

Comox Valley Record
editorcomoxvalleyrecord.com

The Record (Gold River and West Coast)
recordisland.net

Campbell River Courier Islander
editorcourierislander.com

Campbell River Mirror
editorcampbellrivermirror.com