District of Sooke Council Meeting Monday July 13, 2026
Watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we0uQusfSAw&t=11467s (runs 3:11:07 to 4:24:36)
Why this petition is about more than one road in Sooke
Highway 14 is the only road in and out. Everyone west of Langford depends on it. Port Renfrew, Jordan River, Shirley, Sooke, and East Sooke, plus the Metchosin and Colwood traffic that feeds onto it. One crash and the whole corridor stops. That's why this petition was never framed as a Sooke problem. It's a regional one.
And the province has been direct about where the biggest single fix sits.
In June 2024, Sooke's MLA at the time, Ravi Parmar, told Island Social Trends:
"While the largest impact to reduce congestion would be the District of Sooke building the Throup Road Connector, we recognize that there is always more the province can do. We will continue to explore other potential improvements to Highway 14 that will benefit residents."
And on CHEK TV two days earlier:
"I'm certainly calling on the local government to prioritize the Throup Road connector."
Two years later, the road still isn't built.
That's the whole reason this update matters.
Source: Island Social Trends, June 22, 2024, "Throup in Sooke: small road, big politics." https://islandsocialtrends.ca/throup-in-sooke-small-road-big-politics/
What your names did on Monday
Council spent the night on the Throup Road connector.
A proposal came up to put a question on the October ballot asking whether council should keep working on it at all. Councillor Pearson said they already know the answer:
"We have a 4,000 plus signature petition already in our hand. People want the traffic improved."
It was defeated 2 to 5. You're the reason it wasn't needed.
Why was any of this even on the agenda?
It didn't have to be. Council voted on all three of these motions three weeks ago. They were done.
The Mayor brought them back using a power only she has. Under the Community Charter, a mayor can require council to vote again on anything within thirty days.
Councillor Pearson asked her why.
Pearson: "This was unanimously considered. So part of your requirement is to tell us what your objection is to that motion."
Mayor Tait: "Well, right now I have no problem with information. I just wanted to open up the dialogue."
Pearson: "I'm kind of surprised that it came back."
Whatever the reason, the item was reopened. And what came out of it is worth your time.
Nobody spoke against the road. Not one councillor.
Hours of debate, and not a single person said this road shouldn't be built. They argued about money. They argued about timing. They argued about who should decide. Nobody argued the road shouldn't exist.
So the question isn't whether Sooke wants this. That was settled a long time ago. The question is why nothing gets built.
Twenty-seven years and $834,000
Councillor Haldane brought a survey map from 1999. The road dedication was already drawn back then. Since then the connector has been in every Official Community Plan and every Transportation Master Plan Sooke has passed, and every council has voted for it.
The district has now spent $834,000 designing it. Staff say the detailed design is roughly 85 percent complete.
We have paid for this road. We just haven't built it.
In their own words
Councillor Kevin Pearson
"We have a 4,000 plus signature petition already in our hand. People want the traffic improved."
"This is our road. This is internal road. We have to come up with a way to do it and I think we can do it affordably."
"It's been in our plan since 1999. So let's figure out a way to get it done."
Councillor Herb Haldane
"Twenty-seven years we've been going through this. Our transportation master plans, all of our OCPs have all had this road cross-section in it and been supported by every council to date."
"It was expected this road to be built in 1999. It's still an expectation to do it now."
"The public has all the ability to come to every transportation master plan that we vote in and every OCP we vote in and they've never said anything about not wanting this piece of Phillips Road or Throup Road to connect."
Councillor Tony St-Pierre
"It costs us nothing to let them do their job."
"Staff is not out of term or out of time. They actually have a job to do."
"Residents are expecting some movement on this and are expecting something to come forward and they're expecting us to do some work."
Councillor Al Beddows
"I believe that the Throup Road extension is necessary. It's only going to get worse as this town builds out. So I think we do have to get on with it."
"I think it's still a very big priority for this community."
"Where the hell have we been? Would I waste my time? Last time we debated this to this length and then now we're looking at it again. We made these decisions."
What actually moved
Council settled the road width at 25 metres, 5 to 2. Staff have a design to work from now, which they didn't have before Monday. That part is real.
The plebiscite was rejected, 2 to 5.
That's the night.
October 17
The road is in the plan. The design is paid for. Nobody on council opposes it. What's missing is the money, and this council has run out of clock.
The next one decides whether it gets built. Two of the councillors quoted above, Kevin Pearson and Al Beddows, are both running for mayor.
About two dozen people are expected to run. They'll be at your door.
Ask every one of them where they stand on the Throup Road connector. Get the answer before you vote.
Keep signing. Keep sharing. Four thousand names got quoted in the chamber on Monday. Let's make the next council impossible to ignore.