Capital Daily for Monday, June 29

Victoria council voted 5-4 on Thursday to add a single question to the Oct. 17 municipal ballot: "Do you support Saanich and Victoria becoming one municipality?" Saanich grudgingly agreed to the same wording four days earlier.

It won't change anything on its own. Both councils had promised a binding referendum, but Housing Minister Christine Boyle declined to authorize one, citing unanswered questions about the cost of merging and a need for deeper consultation with First Nations. A non-binding question was her compromise.

Mayor Marianne Alto framed it as honouring eight years of work, going back to the 2018 citizens' assembly that recommended the two cities merge. The four no votes saw a stalling tactic. Coun. Marg Gardiner called it "a farce"; Coun. Jeremy Caradonna asked why anyone would hold two referenda to settle one question. It'll be the first time residents are asked directly whether they want to be one city.

He's 69, bald, five-foot-eight, about 230 pounds, with a scar on his forehead and three fingers missing from his left hand. Ernest Egon Jensen was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder, and on Sunday he wasn't there for the noon count at William Head Institution in Metchosin.

Correctional Service Canada says he's been inside since March 20, 1991. West Shore RCMP launched ground patrols, sent in the dog team, and put air services overhead, warning of a heavy police presence around the prison while the search ran. They consider Jensen dangerous and ask that no one approach him.

William Head has done this before. In July 2019, two inmates walked around a fence at low tide and made their way to the Metchosin home of 60-year-old Martin Payne, who they killed when he returned from work. Both were later convicted of first-degree murder. That escape raised the question of why high-risk inmates were at a minimum-security site 30 kilometres from Victoria.

Anyone who sees Jensen or knows where he is should call 911. Non-emergency tips go to West Shore RCMP at 250-474-2264.