A Special Council Meeting was held at the District of Saanich’s July 7th meeting regarding the proposed Quadra McKenzie Plan (QMP). More than 100 people packed Saanich municipal hall. Each presenter had three minutes to provide input. The Quadra McKenzie plan, which has been in the works since 2023, will decide how a major chunk of Saanich centred around the two thoroughfares will be built out. Current plans allow six-storey buildings near major roads and centres, with up-to-24-storey buildings allowed on select lots near the intersection of Quadra and McKenzie. Links to video below.
Next steps on the Draft Quadra McKenzie Plan
Public consultation on the revised Draft Plan will be undertaken from August to October, 2025, and will include an online survey, open houses and online webinars. Based on public input, a refined Draft Quadra McKenzie Plan will be presented to Council for consideration in Winter 2025/2026. You do not need to be a resident of Saanich to participate, or attend the next public hearing.
Squirrel for Mayor urges the District of Saanich Council to commit to comprehensive environmental assessment and meaninful Indigeous consultation before any further development is considered.
Overview of July 7th meeting.
The District of Saanich, like many island municipalities is at a crossroad: either proceed with a plan that guarantees further ecological destruction, or pause, reassess and support long-term ecological protection, Indigenous stewardship, and community-led conservation planning.
The meeting was attended by urbanists who promote density and traffic infrastructure to foster urban growth, as well as local residents concerned about the tangible impacts of proposed changes. Saanich Councillor Colin Plant said the proceedings at council had become a “trainwreck”. The proposed QMP include changes to the zoning to allow the demolition of two-storey homes to make way for 6 storey and up to 24-storey condominiums. This narrative of density has affected every charming community that has transformed into a bustling metropolis across the globe, much to the detriment of the urban forests, ecosystems and biodiversity.
The idea that housing targets set by both federal and provincial policies will destroy the most biodiverse hotspot in British Columbia is upsetting. Especially to locals and residents with an understanding of forest ecologies on Vancouver Island. One only needs to drive down the Quadra McKenzie area and see that roadways are lined with Garry oak trees. The destruction of the urban forest, which is the Garry oak ecosystem, will not “save” a forest somewhere else. A large percentage of Vancouver Island’s coniferous forests are logged by a variety of companies, and there are growing concerns about the impacts on old-growth forests on Vancouver Island. Commercial logging on private and public land is increasing. But more significantly, those forests are a different type of forest than the urban forest of Greater Victoria.
Public safety at council meetings
Public hearings should never create a sense of insecurity. It’s ironic that some of the urbanist speakers who felt uncomfortable attending this meeting due to their support for the QMP are part of the same group and reason why folks felt uneasy about attending hearings for 902 Foul Bay and the Missing Middle Housing Initiative in City of Victoria. This suggests a reversal in who feels threatened to speak in Saanich compared to Victoria, possibly due to the higher percentage of homeowners in Saanich (69.2%) versus Victoria (39.5%). Urbanists tend to outnumber homeowners in City of Victoria during public hearings.
The public addressed the Mayor and Council of Saanich knowing there is at least one Saanich council member who engages with urbanist representatives to discuss land use strategies, including member motions and preparations for UBCM floor and media strategies. The same urbanist group was selected by the province to provide input on the provincial budget on June 16, 2025. They also attended Langford’s OCP hearing on June 25, 2025, and actively advocated for the removal of public hearings related to the development of Bills 44 and 47.
Another urbanist who also spoke in favour of the plan said, “this meeting is an abusive process and I and other working people should not need to be here. This meeting is entirely for those with the time and privilege…” Even more true if you want to attend meetings in multiple municipalities and make time to lobby the province.
Irony continues for the urbanist group who is active with local government in private and public, yet labels local opposition to land use changes as NIMBY (Not In My Backyard), a term used in critiques of public engagement with local government. More amusing though, is how the term first surfaced in a February 1979 newspaper article in Virginia’s Daily Press, “agencies need to be better coordinated and the “nimby” (not in my backyard) syndrome must be eliminated.” The article is quoting Joseph A. Lieberman, a member of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, addressing nearly 500 health scientists in the Fort Macgruder Conference Centre about how to handle the “nimby” (not in my backyard) opposition to radioactive waste disposal.
The phrase ‘”not in my back yard”, without the acronym, also appeared in “Hazardous Wastes, an environmental journal discussing the disposal of hazardous waste in Alberta, Canada in February 1980. Over time, the use of the word “nimby” went from being used by the energy, mining, and nuclear industry, which seriously out resources its critics, and was adopted by private market housing advocates in connection to residential land use at the municipal level.
Urban Forest and Climate Resiliency
Several Saanich residents wearing Save Our Saanich pins introduced themselves as “proud NIMBY’s – Nature in My Backyard”. Nature in My Backyard was first proposed in 2011 by David Suzuki to reclaim the term NIMBY, emphasizing genuine community care rather than being coined by the interests of those willing to impose harmful ecological destruction of residential areas.
An urbanist statement regarding the urban forest during the meeting:
“Building housing inside the city means we don’t have to cut down the forest outside of it, or pave over agricultural land in order to house people. And I personally care more about the forest than the trees I can see from my window. Yes, they are nice but they’re not nearly as important as those forests in fighting climate change or making the local environment better.”
If an urbanist says that having trees visible from windows in not essential, in the context of supporting the Quadra McKenzie Plan, you probably should believe them.
That’s why the QMP is alarming. Due to the impacts of colonization, the Mayor and Council of Saanich are currently determining the fate of the urban forest, which is the Garry oak ecosystem, one of the most endangered ecosystems in Canada, with only three percent remaining in its natural state. These ecosystems exist primarily on the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island and adjacent Gulf Islands, as well as in two isolated groves east of Vancouver. Tag Saanich, you are it.
Public Health Emergency
Regarding urbanist comments, trees are indeed essential at the neighborhood level. The decline of green infrastructure, combined with rising temperatures, is creating a substantial public health emergency.
The University of Victoria’s “Plan2Adapt” climate modeling for South Island projects an average temperature increase of over 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 compared to the 1960-1990 baseline. This rise will likely lead to more frequent heat domes and severe droughts. Garry oak ecosystems and individual trees, naturally adapted to such conditions, serve as vital nature-based solutions to counteract the urban heat island effect, particularly benefiting vulnerable populations.
The impacts of climate change on public health in British Columbia were tragically highlighted during the 2021 heat dome, which resulted in over 600 deaths. Since then, oppressive summer conditions have become increasingly common, particularly affecting seniors, individuals with disabilities, low-income residents, and those with various health issues in the urban environment.
It’s essential that urbanists, who gravitate toward anthropocentric methods for best management for human activities to achieve economic and social development, begin to reflect on the ecocentric, or natural values approach as well. An anthropocentric viewpoint is the main reasons the planet is suffering in climate crisis.
Living Artifact Threatened by the Quadra McKenzie Plan
Driving along the proposed QMP roadways, one can easily observe the surrounding Garry oak trees.
The urban forest management of Čaŋēɫč (lək̓ʷəŋən), ĆEṈ¸IȽĆ (SENĆOŦEN), or p’hwulhp (HUL’Q’UMI’NUM’), known scientifically as Garry oak (Quercus garryana), along with its associated ecosystem (Kwetlal or ḰȽO,EL), is under threat from the Quadra McKenzie Plan.
The Kwetlal food system, or Garry oak ecosystem, represents a living artifact of Indigenous peoples who have stewarded this land for generations, shaped by thousands of years of Indigenous agroecological management that created the oak savannah after the glacial retreat approximately 10,000 years ago. Without these practices, the landscape would likely be dominated by dense stands of Douglas-fir and Grand fir. Over 1,645 organisms, including plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, have co-evolved within this unique ecosystem. The local genetic adaptations of the Garry oak and its associated species community would be challenging and costly to reintroduce if lost.
Garry oak is the only native oak species in British Columbia and plays a significant role in the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ cultural heritage, connecting urban Indigenous youth to their ancestors and serving as a vital avenue for the continuation of knowledge as traditions evolve.
The Greater Victoria area boasts a high concentration of rare species compared to the rest of the province. Garry oak ecosystems are recognized as a “hot spot” of biological diversity, being the most diverse terrestrial ecosystems in British Columbia and home to species classified as “at risk” by the Province.
Up, and Saanich residents
Watching the QMP hearing reminded me of Up, the 2009 animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The story begins with the main character Carl as a ten-year-old boy. Trials and tribulations of life ensue and he persists in his tiny home. Now widowed and elderly, Carl in his late 70’s, holds out while the neighbourhood around him is developed. To a sensitive soul, this touches one’s heart deeply.
The movie modelled the house after the real life Whitewood Cottage in Seattle, also known as the Edith Macefield house. According to the Seattle Times, “she became a cause célèbre, a little old lady who said no to big developers.” It appears that Edith, who undoubtedly exhibits “Nimby” tendencies, had managed to preserve a single tree. I would venture to guess that an urban squirrel managed to share the space with Edith, too. 🌱🐿💪🏽💥
Resources
Quadra McKenzie Plan
https://hello.saanich.ca/en/projects/quadra-mckenzie-study?_ga=2.209403797.689985062.1752082462-327114932.1752082462
https://www.saanich.ca/EN/main/community/community-planning/centre-corridor-and-village-plans/quadra-mckenzie-plan.html
Agenda link https://saanich.ca.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=1&clip_id=1073
Video link https://saanich.ca.granicus.com/player/clip/1073?view_id=1&redirect=true
Victoria News
https://www.vicnews.com/local-news/a-trainwreck-tensions-boil-over-during-saanich-quadra-mckenzie-plan-8120555
Times Colonist
https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/quadra-mckenzie-plan-moves-forward-after-raucous-meeting-10916847
The Real Life “Up” House
https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/searching-for-edith-macefield/
Coroners Report, Heat Dome
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/death-review-panel/extreme_heat_death_review_panel_report.pdf
University of Victoria Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium Plan2Adapt https://services.pacificclimate.org/plan2adapt/app/
“Radioactive Waste: National Regulations Needed”. Daily Press. 13 February 1979. p. 23. Archived from the original on 29 January 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
Unchanged: Daily News, Newport News, Virginia · Tuesday, February 13, 1979. Retrieved 29 May 2025.https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2012/rncan-nrcan/Fo29-6-80-1997-eng.pdf
Unchanged: Sniatynski, Gillian (February–March 1980). “Hazardous Wastes”. Environment Views. 2 (6): 5. The ‘not in my back yard’ syndrome is a compound of fears about health, safety, and environmental quality https://dn790009.ca.archive.org/0/items/enviroviews2n6/enviroviews2n6.pdf