Northern Island group to hold town hall about abolishing village government

Published 1:30 pm Thursday, March 5, 2026

The grassroots group working to dissolve the Village of Sayward is holding a town hall meeting on Friday (March 6).

Jess Bennett, one of the founders of the newly established Sayward Taxpayers Alliance, said problems with the municipality on northern Vancouver Island are so dire that the group has launched a petition to disincorporate Sayward, aiming to abolish the local government.

If this initiative succeeds – a complicated process under the Local Government Act, which allows the province to consider dissolving a municipality after receiving a request signed by the majority of voters – Sayward will cease to function as a municipality, and all governance will fall under the Strathcona Regional District.

The petition has already garnered over 110 of the 170 signatures required to reach the 51 percent approval threshold for a population of about 350, Bennett said. She’s confident the group will secure the remaining signatures.

This push for dissolution follows years of municipal instability.

Since 2020, more mayors and city managers have resigned in Sayward than any other municipality in B.C.

And currently, several council members are embroiled in different lawsuits and investigations, which were all launched against each other.

Tensions within the village escalated again in mid February when the village unveiled a staggering 42 percent tax increase in its draft 2026 budget.

This tax increase translates to an average annual rise of $725 for average single-family homes.

During the budget presentation on Feb. 17, Jeannie Bradburne, a chartered accountant the village hired to do its finances, explained that the village’s annual spending has exceeded recurring revenues for the past five years. To cover these deficits, the village has relied on accumulated surpluses.

But now, those funds are exhausted and legally must be covered by a tax increase.

“I know that is going to be a difficult number for people to see,” Bradburne said. “Going through your budget, there’s very limited options for other ways that we can find revenue or reduce expenditures.”

What’s also driving up the property tax is the roughly $300,000 that will be spent on legal services for 2025, which is more than nearly 20 per cent of the village’s entire revenues.

Chief executive officer Andrew Young also pointed to reduced government grants, aging infrastructure and insufficient support from the regional government.

The Mirror contacted Sayward Mayor Mark Baker, but did not receive a response.

Elaine Popove, the SRD’s communications coordinator, wrote in an email the SRD had no response on the residents’ move to dissolve the municipality as “none of this comes from the direction of the board.”

The public meeting is taking place in Sayward at the Heritage Hall on March 6 at 7 p.m.