Is bigger better? Most Canadian cities think so, but not the Lower Mainland.

Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon all have a single civic government.

The Lower Mainland does not. It is composed of 21 cities and villages, including such communities as tiny Anmore (population 1,496), White Rock (19,593) and Langley City (24,577).

“We are the only metropolitan region in Canada which is not one uni-city,” says David Baxter of the Urban Futures Institute. “Around the world, big cities have 10 million people. Nothing seems to discourage size.”

Cities pick border fights: Surrey once tried to site a smelly garbage transfer station near a Langley neighbourhood; Langley Township and Langley City can’t agree on where to build a railway overpass so traffic doesn’t tie up.

Many borders don’t follow geographical lines.

“A change in government from one side of Boundary Road in Vancouver to the other in Burnaby doesn’t make sense,” says Baxter.

“You don’t need three cities in the Tri-Cities area. The White Rock-South Surrey distinction doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Experts say cities aren’t able to make effective regional decisions on homelessness, drugs and crime. The Surrey and Vancouver mayors, for example, fought a war of words over whether a safe injection site was a good idea.

“The city of Vancouver behaves as if the rest of the region doesn’t exist,” says Baxter.

“I find that appalling.”

Kennedy Stewart, a Simon Fraser University assistant professor who has researched amalgamation extensively, says the provincial government should start a study about what to do with the Lower Mainland.

“It’s so important to the whole province,” says Stewart.

“Getting money is much easier to negotiate. If foreign dignitaries come to Vancouver, who do they speak to?”

But the region already acts as one in a number of major ways.

Water, sewer and garbage disposal are all handled regionally through the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

Transportation, the No. 1 issue according to opinion polls, is under one umbrella through TransLink.

And there are moves to bring the police forces together through the sharing of services such as dog squads and identification. It has already started with the creation of the Integrated Homicide Investigative Team.

Stewart says the reasons for cities to amalgamate differ across the country.

“In Toronto, there was outrage initially because it was done by the Mike Harris provincial government in three weeks,” he says.

“Harris thought the smaller city units were arguing and not thinking as a region.

“Later, 70 per cent of Torontonians polled said it was the best thing that ever happened. There was a very strong spokesperson for the city. They made more effective regional decisions.”

Baxter says Montreal was forced into amalgamation by the Parti Quebecois for political reasons, in order to dilute the Anglo vote.

Out West, he says, cities evolved differently.

“Calgary and Edmonton started with a single core. They didn’t begin with a New Westminster, Ladner and a downtown,” Baxter says, adding that London and Paris are run by central governments.

There is support for partial consolidation from Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum, providing it is done about 20 years hence.

“If I were looking into a crystal ball, I would see four cities in the Lower Mainland, each [with] about 500,000 [people],” McCallum says.

“One city would be too big.”

McCallum sees the split along geographical lines, following natural boundaries: One city would be on what he called Burrard peninsula (composed of Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster); another in the Northeast (Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows); south of the Fraser (Richmond, Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley Township and Langley City); and on the North Shore (West Van, North Van District and North Van City).

“Each has its own landscape. Burrard has heavy, urban density. The suburbs are more rural,” says McCallum.

“The natural setting would be more efficient government-wise. Each area would have, say, 15 councillors. The public would look at it as more accountable, economic and efficient.”

Stewart says one city is the way to go.

“The sooner we start thinking of the GVRD as a mega-city, the better we can think about regional planning,” he says.

TWO LANGLEYS ALREADY PRICKLY ON SUBJECT OF AMALGAMATION

Langley Township Coun. Muriel Arnason may have started more than she realized when she said the two Langleys should be merged.

Arnason, a 25-year council veteran, says services are duplicated in parks departments, city managers’ offices and engineering.

“Council thinks I’m a damned nuisance, but it’s the people that count,” she says.

“The reasons are economic. It’s expensive. We should have a referendum.”

Glen Tomblin advocated amalgamation in an unsuccessful bid for Langley City mayor.

“For some reason, politicians on both sides are afraid to ask the question in a referendum,” says Tomblin. “The winners are council and the bureaucrats. The losers are the taxpayers.”

Not only are staffs and city halls duplicated, says Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum, but there are also too many politicians throughout the region.

“There are four levels of government — civic, regional, provincial and federal,” McCallum says. “We’re way over-governed.”

The number of mayors, councillors, MLAs and MPs in the GVRD is 213.

Salaries are sometimes small, but they add up, and so do city halls.

Six Langley City councillors receive $18,333 each. The city built a new city hall and library complex for $4.6 million in 2000.

According to the Langley mayors, the Lower Mainland’s amalgamation won’t start with them.

“It would only make sense if both cities supported a referendum,” says Township Mayor Kurt Alberts.

“The city has never wanted to go near that discussion.”

Says City Mayor Marlene Grinnell: “I have no reason to believe it would be in the city’s best interest to be a larger city. We’re a large regional town centre.

“We’ve won the local government awareness award. People understand where the money is being spent.”

© The Vancouver Province 2004