Should Victoria and Saanich merge?

Residents of the two largest municipalities in Greater Victoria, Saanich and Victoria, will vote this weekend on whether the municipalities should merge. It's a process called amalgamation. But how does this vote actually work? Let me explain. So over many years there's been a lot of discussion about whether the more than 400,000 people in Greater Victoria could be part of one municipality instead of 13. So in 2014, seven of eight local municipalities actually voted to explore amalgamating. And last year, Saanich and Victoria had a citizens' assembly that recommended the two municipalities amalgamate. They think it could help the municipalities jointly tackle challenges like housing affordability, climate change, and infrastructure issues. But critics say they don't think it'll save money or improve efficiency, and others think it's pointless to amalgamate just Saanich and Victoria without the rest of the region. So you might be wondering, does this mean the two municipalities become one big Saanich Victoria if voters support it? Not exactly. So this isn't the first time that voters have been asked about this and because the province made the referendum non-binding it won't be the last. But basically if voters don't support this the conversation ends there but if they do Saanich and Victoria will keep looking into it. So basically it's a vibe check like they've been flirting with amalgamation for years now maybe it's time to take it to the next level.