Esquimalt residents have had their first chance to hear more about a nearly billion-dollar sewage treatment plant slated for their Victoria-area suburb.
The single treatment plant will handle sewage from across the capital region, ending the decades-old practice of dumping raw sewage from Greater Victoria directly into Juan de Fuca Strait.
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins agrees the location, on the municipality's McLaughlin Point, wasn't the area's choice but she says Esquimalt still has the opportunity to participate in the development permit process and affect the final design.
But Councillor Tim Morrison says the $765-million plant is a risk to taxpayers in Esquimalt and across the region, and pledged he would not “hold hands with the region and sing Kumbaya” just to qualify for time-limited federal funding.
