In the very near future we could have three areas for big box stores in our community. One on Stelly’s X Road, one in the Keating business district, and one by Mount Newton X Road and the Pat Bay Highway.
As a Saanich resident, I will not have a say in any of this.
Big box stores have been shown in independent research to be a drain on the local community in which they exist. Multinational retailers devastate local businesses while draining off capital to pay enormous dividends to foreign investors who do not care about our community. Dozens of Wal-Marts lay abandoned in the U.S., leaving the municipalities to pay for the demolition.
This is my community. Decisions to allow such radical changes to our community impact me and my family, regardless of the municipal boundaries. I live four kilometres from Brentwood Bay and my bank, my bookkeeper, bakery, clothing store and grocery store. I am also four kilometres from the Keating business area, where I shop for food, have my tires changed, purchase furniture, eat in restaurants, buy gardening materials and automotive parts, get automotive repairs, rent tools, purchase gravel, send my kids to school, and buy paint. I am a service electrician and a good part of my business is in Central Saanich.
This is my community and I am concerned about what is happening.
Walt McGinnis
Saanich