Investigative journalist Terry Gould has published the story behind the six-storey, 92-unit McDonald Park Rd. project. BC’s Housing Minister singled it out in June for priority approval. North Saanich planning staff and the Community Planning Advisory Committee had both recommended rejecting it. The site is in one of three areas the province has proposed pre-zoning for six storeys.
Gould reports that:
• In 2025, before the OCP vote, Councillor Phil DiBattista asked the development firm that later applied for the project to prepare a report. The report argued that developers couldn’t make a profit within the OCP’s limits. District staff rebutted it.
• A development consultant who appeared as a proponent of the project is Councillor DiBattista’s brother-in-law. The relationship was not disclosed to the mayor, staff, or at least three councillors.
• The minister directed the District to review the advisory committee that opposed the project. Around the same time, a four-member council majority suspended that committee and two other volunteer committees and ordered a conduct review of all 21 members. Nearly four months on, none of them has been told what they’re accused of.
DiBattista voted against the OCP and is running for re-election.
Read Gould’s full piece: here
