It shouldn’t be a surprise that Esquimalt council favoured switching to the RCMP for regular policing, given their attitude toward Victoria police.
Policing certainly should be an election issue. Voters should not only be asking tough questions of current politicians, but remembering how Victoria police came to be in Esquimalt – didn’t the province of B.C. judge that Esquimalt was not properly policed? (They’ve done that elsewhere since then.)
Esquimalt politicians refuse to consider policing a priority over do-gooder projects like the boulevard shrubbery on Esquimalt Road, which only serves to obscure jaywalkers.
Esquimalt is far from free of crime.
If there’s a case for amalgamation in the Greater Victoria area, Esquimalt is a prime candidate to start with. I’d merge Esquimalt and Vic West, and put the rest of Victoria into Oak Bay. But of course it all depends on the quality of politicians voters are willing to put into place.
Keith Sketchley
Saanich