Two recent online surveys were created by the municipality of Saanich, claiming to be Cadboro Bay community surveys designed to help the district draft the community’s future design through an updated local area plan. The latest offered even more densification than before, potentially all the way to Telegraph Road, and was open to anyone in the world to fill out, as many times as they wanted; without any working verification process in place to determine who they were or where they were from.
If the same criteria as an open online survey (web poll) were used for any democratic election, the UN wouldn’t even bother to send out observers, such would be the obviousness of the farce.
Now based on this ‘winning formula’, there is even another survey being put out this summer by the district to help determine the future of the Saanich official community plan (OCP) and this one offers once again the agenda of densification, but now for the wider district.
How about ending phony unaccountable and unscientific plebiscites and having actual secure referendums for the public instead? Does the council fear real referendums toward their agenda from the public?
The only secure survey in Saanich for the actual electorate will be the one at the polls on Oct. 15. At the polls, your vote can finally be counted fairly and accountably.
Sasha Izard
Saanich
