The Municipality of North Cowichan says a proposed boundary realignment study by the City of Duncan is concerning and could damage relations between the two municipalities.
The City of Duncan announced plans to conduct the study after some residents expressed support for boundary realignment during a 2014 opinion referendum.
However, North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas said the municipality is not interested in pursuing a boundary realignment and does not support the study.
“To have Duncan undertake this project when we said we weren’t interested in participating is going to damage the relationship. It’s concerning and disappointing,” he said. “In the past 12 years, I don’t recall any instance where a resident (or business owner) in North Cowichan approached us saying they want to become part of Duncan.”
Douglas said North Cowichan declined an invitation earlier this year to participate in the study after being approached by the City of Duncan.
“Duncan has asked that we jointly undertake this study for $80,000 to look at boundary realignment. We politely declined and thought that was the end of it,” he said. “To find out, last week, that the City of Duncan was going to do this exercise unilaterally was surprising.”
Douglas said the proposal lacks clarity and does not clearly define what areas the City of Duncan is considering for boundary realignment, particularly in the southern portion of North Cowichan.
“Duncan has talked about the south end, and it’s one point we’re very concerned about,” he said. “When they’re talking about it we don’t know if they’re talking about moving a boundary on a couple of streets or are they looking at the entire south end area?”
Duncan’s mayor previously said the boundary realignment proposal is not related to amalgamation. Douglas said North Cowichan remains open to discussing amalgamation based on previous public support.
“If you go back to the last referendum vote in 2018, the majority of our residents did support amalgamation, but most Duncan residents didn’t,” he said. “We’re open to having those discussions again.”
According to Douglas, boundary realignment between North Cowichan and the City of Duncan would require agreement from both municipalities before it could proceed.
Douglas said he plans to meet with the minister of municipal affairs to discuss the issue.
