Plans for a $20-million regional transportation service — and for the tax dollars supporting it — have been approved by the Capital Regional District (CRD) board, despite pleas from Salt Spring’s elected officials to not participate in a service they believe will provide no benefit to the island.
The most populous Southern Gulf Island’s position was made clear months prior, according to electoral area director Gary Holman, who along with Local Community Commission (LCC) member Brian Webster travelled to Victoria to make their final case in multiple meetings Wednesday, Sept. 11. Holman and Webster reiterated that it made no sense for Salt Spring to participate in a regional service which they said was at best duplicative — and at worst, undemocratic.
“I’m a big believer in region-wide initiatives,” Webster told the CRD transportation committee. “I lived for 17 years on probably the only street that had one block in Oak Bay, one block in Saanich and one in the City of Victoria.”
But, he said, despite the initiative having merit generally, there were several reasons it simply didn’t make sense to include Salt Spring.
“Our residents make quite limited use of the transportation infrastructure in other CRD jurisdictions,” he said. “Most of our connections that go off Salt Spring don’t even go to the CRD, they go to the Cowichan Valley Regional District.”
Salt Spring’s population is also large enough, Webster pointed out, that a “high degree” of employment and services are on-island, and don’t necessarily require a ferry trip.
“And most importantly, Salt Spring Island already has a CRD transportation service — a local service that’s been operating for a number of years,” said Webster. “It’s supported entirely by Salt Spring Island taxpayers, investing in active transportation and supporting our transit service.”
But most CRD board members took a “rising tide will lift all ships” perspective; CRD director Jeremy Caradonna, councillor for Victoria, shared with the board what he felt was a relevant anecdote about a recent bicycle ride from his home in that city’s Fernwood neighbourhood to Salt Spring Island.
“From my home all the way to Swartz Bay is on a protected bike lane, basically,” said Caradonna. “Then when you get off the ferry in Fulford, it’s a nightmare.”
Caradonna argued it showed Salt Spring’s local transportation service as the “status quo” was not working.
“Why are there no bike lanes on Salt Spring Island?” asked Caradonna. “Why is there no sidewalk along the Fulford-Ganges Road? Why is there no sidewalk in big portions of downtown Ganges? Why are there insufficient crosswalks that are from the 1980s?”
“In part,” answered Holman, “because Salt Spring has invested millions of dollars in the existing regional trail system and received virtually nothing in return. Even with very explicit requests to include Salt Spring in [regional] trail borrowing, not only was that request rejected, it wasn’t even referred to the transportation committee.”
And, Holman said, had he been CRD director for anywhere else but Salt Spring, he wouldn’t vote to advance Salt Spring projects either — because of the relatively small population, and because he said unconnected trails on a separate small island are hard to define as “regionally significant.”
“It’s about bang for the buck,” said Holman. “If you’re sitting here with your regional hat on and looking at how best to spend tens of millions on active transportation, it wouldn’t be on Salt Spring — it would be in Greater Victoria, from an economic perspective.”
With the CRD board’s vote, public approval of the new service will now be sought — through the Alternative Approval Process (AAP), where a measure succeeds by having fewer signatures from voters who are against it. In this case, the AAP allows the board to adopt the service-establishing bylaw if less than 10 per cent, or fewer than 33,191 electors, join the counter petition.
Since there are just 9,500 registered voters on Salt Spring Island, Holman noted, even if all of them signed in opposition, the counter petition would fail anyway.
“One could argue, ‘it’s going to voters, how democratic can you get?’” said Holman. “It’s not democratic; Salt Spring would be the tail wagging the dog.”
The initial requisition of $10.3 million can max out at $20 million under the current authorization, according to a CRD staff report, although board members noted that number was linked to current property assessments and could rise further.
Salt Spring’s contribution is estimated to initially total about $339,000 each year — significant for Salt Spring, Holman noted, although just 3.3 per cent of the total cost of the service, tracking with the island’s percentage of total converted real estate assessments in 2024.
According to CRD staff estimates, an average residential tax bill on Salt Spring would increase by $51.12 annually on the island — about the same increase faced by an average residence in the municipality of Victoria, although the larger size of that municipality means it will ultimately contribute nearly 24 per cent of the total.
At the full $20 million, those numbers for Salt Spring max out — again, tracked to current property values — at $658,000 per year or $99.27 per average residence, according to staff.
“If Salt Spring Island ever wants to have a regional trail from Fulford Harbour to Vesuvius, which is envisioned, I believe it probably will be more likely to happen with a regional transportation service than being borne on the backs of Salt Spring Island residents hoping for grants from the provincial and federal government,” said CRD Board chair Colin Plant. “I think it is untenable, with all due respect to my colleague from Salt Spring Island, to have them not participate.”
Holman was unconvinced.
“It could be possible that if this regional service is established, maybe there might be an incremental benefit to Salt Spring,” said Holman. “To say, ‘have faith, eventually you will get a regional trail.’ Well, history over the past 15 years has clearly indicated that’s not the case. I’m not willing to support being drawn into a service where the historical experience has indicated we’ll get zero benefit.”
The successful vote to advance the new service, where Holman was joined in opposition only by Juan de Fuca electoral area director Al Wickheim, was celebrated by remaining directors with a round of applause.
“To be honest, I’m more concerned now than I was before,” Webster told fellow LCC members during their meeting the following day, noting board discussions about commuter rail from the West Shore area to downtown Victoria. “By the end of the meeting there, I thought the way the service is envisioned fit Salt Spring even less than I thought.”
If the bylaw is adopted, the Southern Gulf Islands Electoral Area will contribute 2.6 per cent — an average of $39.11 per residence — and the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area will contribute 1.8 per cent, or $44.41 per average residence.