The CRD and 5 Local Governments in Greater Victoria are Keeping their Development/Real Estate Lobby Membership Status out of Sight from the General Public
Well over a month ago in November 2023, the UDI development/real estate lobby, as predicted: pulled down their membership directory to the public from their websites, meaning that branches of government that have joined the development/real estate lobby as paying members, could no longer be seen on their websites, as having done so by the general taxpaying public that is financing the organization, whether they are aware of it or not.
The same day November 21, 2023 that the Township of View Royal ratified their decision to discontinue their membership in the UDI (becoming the second municipality to do so this year in the CRD following Saanich); the UDI pulled down all their branch websites and replaced them with a new website: UDI.org
The new website UDI.org at the current time of writing (Nov 21, 2023) unlike the previous websites, lacks a members directory for the public to see, yet at the same time still invites "government" to become a member. Is their members directory hiding behind the members-only-access section in their new website? Does one need to join the lobby as a paying member now to see what branches of the Canadian government (including crown corporations and statutory bodies), have joined it as paying members as well?
When I saw that this had happened, I emailed the CAOs of all the municipalities that were still paying members of the UDI in the CRD and I emailed the CRD itself as well, to, for the purposes of transparency: post on their websites that they have a membership with the UDI.
The CRD did not comply. Among the municipalities, only one Esquimalt, which should be commended on their speed in doing so, complied:
Professional Associations and Memberships | Corporation of the Township of Esquimalt
As for all the other municipalities that are still paying members of the UDI in the CRD; they along with the UDI, are now hiding out of sight from the general public, the fact that they are paying members of the lobby.
In addition to the CRD, the 5 municipalities that have been unwilling to post their membership status on their websites for the general public to see, include: The City of Victoria, Oak Bay, Langford, Sooke, and Colwood.
Numerous municipalities and regional governments across the Province of BC are likely also not revealing to the general public that they are paying members of the development/real estate lobby, at a time when the lobby's power over them has been made all the more apparent through the introductions by the BC NDP of Bills 44-47.
