Lindsay Buziak Petition in the Vancouver Sun

The Vancouver Sun is reporting on the Change.org petition asking that Mike Farnworth, the minister of public safety, remove the Lindsay Buziak murder investigation case from Saanich police department and turn it over to another agency.

"In an emailed statement, Const. Markus Anastasiades said Saanich police would not speak to media. Anastasiades said Saanich police has been in a partnership with the RCMP that began at the initial crime scene. That partnership continues to this day. Anastasiades said the RCMP has conducted two comprehensive reviews of their investigation, one in 2008 and another in 2019, and that Saanich police are moving forward with the recommendations of the most recent review.” It sounds like they are frantically trying to cover their a*s instead of solve the murder.

Given the conflict of interest, Saanich PD should hand that file over to IHIT. That would be in everyone's best interest. Their stubborn refusal to do so forces us to examine the merger campaigns. Catherine Holt is the CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce. She wrote an article for the Times Colonist regarding the amalgamation of the Sanaach and Victoria police force. After attending the recent Lindsay Buziak Rally in Victoria, it became crystal clear how close Saanich and Victoria are. They are both part of the same community.

We walked from the Saanich City Hall which is right beside the Saanich PD to the Parliament buildings in Victoria. They are two small communities right beside each other. Surrey, New Westminster, Vancouver, Langley, those are all separated by a geographical distance. Saanich and Victoria is not. The CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce supports the merger of the Victoria PD with the Saanich PD and so do I. That is the logical solution to the conflict.

The Sooke News Mirror reported that "Victoria councillors unanimously endorsed a resolution that calls on the province to establish a regional police, with funding following established Capital Regional District (CRD) guidelines. Leading officials in Victoria starting with Mayor Lisa Helps as well as Chief Del Manak of the Victoria Police Department, which serves both Victoria and Esquimalt, favour the idea of creating a regional police force, and Victoria’s resolution reads like an attempt by that municipality to ratchet up the pressure on would-be resisters like Saanich."

The mayor of Saanich opposes the plan as he could be out of a job. His concerns are self interest. "Bruce Kennedy of the Grumpy Taxpayer$ of Victoria applauds Victoria’s appeal. 'It has bewildered us why Mayor Haynes has voiced opposition of a consolidated police force,' he said. 'We would call on the Saanich Mayor and [council] to be proactive and to ask their residents through a series of town hall meetings and online surveys whether they support this idea.'”

Amalgamation Yes is reporting that there was a referendum in both Saanich and Victoria. Victoria voted: 66% YES and Saanich voted: 56% YES. So the yeahs have it. It's time to move forward.