A huge issue here in our region is transportation and the rush-hour commute. Many ongoing news stories are based on this issue. The McKenzie interchange, bus lanes, bike lanes and the potential for a Royal Bay ferry — and now the provincial government announcing its first government office building in Langford.
“We can’t widen the corridor much further and having government offices in Langford can take cars off the road,” said Langford Mayor Stew Young.
The announcement of a provincial government office in Langford was exciting to me. I know how impactful a significantly reduced commute can be.
I have lived in many municipalities across the capital region, including Victoria, Esquimalt, Saanich, Langford and Metchosin. I’ve lived near my place of employment and I’ve also spent many hours sitting in the Colwood Crawl.
I don’t think anyone is more excited about this announcement than Langford Mayor Stew Young, who has been working for nearly 30 years to see this happen.
When he first began his crusade, Young said he was told the provincial government needed to keep all the buildings in close proximity for couriering needs.
Things have definitely changed, there have been huge with strides in technology that make the couriering argument obsolete.
“They have been making people drive into town because of old-school thinking,” Young said.
I haven’t received a lot of information for the new office, but I know it will be in Westhills and is a pilot program regarding placing government offices on the West Shore. I have high hopes that West Shore government employees will use this facility. The success of this pilot project will determine if other buildings follow.
I have spoken with people living on the West Shore who say they will take a job with a pay cut if they don’t have to commute downtown.
“Working downtown is expensive when you factor in the cost of parking, gas and the insurance to travel farther distances,” said Young. “The biggest beneficiaries of moving offices to the West Shore are the young families. There is no reason not to do it.”
I am excited to see how this unfolds. Young said he would like to see an entire ministry relocate to the West Shore, and I would also agree with this. I realize that not everyone working in a ministry would be living on the West Shore, but commuting to the West Shore in the morning is definitely not a crawl.
Young mentioned he would like to see a study that identifies what municipalities government employees are travelling from to come downtown and to use the data to determine where offices could be built.
“If there is a need in Sidney, then build an office there,” Young said.
There is no denying that Langford is the fastest-growing municipality in our region and the province.
“We have affordable housing here and the young families are moving here. It makes sense to bring the offices where the people are,” Young said. “In my very first speech as mayor 28 years ago, I said I was going to get government offices here.”
Langford council has been offering tax exemptions to any government office in the city for the past 27 years, and this is the first time council has been taken up on its offer when it comes to government offices. Langford is also offering tax exemptions for a university. Through my work, I am well aware that Langford supports affordable housing in the same way.
Young also noted bringing government offices to the West Shore will also have environmental impacts, such as reducing carbon footprints from commuters.
Every time I’ve had my home, childcare and place of employment in the same community, my life is improved, and it seems to simplify things. When I would have to allocate one and a half hours each afternoon to sitting in traffic, hoping to get to the childcare centre before it closed at 5:30 p.m., it was stressful.
I am making the assumption that as a pilot project, it needs to be successful for it to be rolled out into an actual initiative. To all the B.C. government employees living on the West Shore, I encourage you to try out this office space when it opens.
Charla Huber is the director of communications and Indigenous relations for M’akola Housing Society and M’akola Development Services.
