What surprises me is Saanich, the most populated municipality, does not have its own guidelines in place:

Why should they? See, this just strikes me as unnecessary regulation. The province already has rules in place, why do the cities need to go further?

...why do the cities need to go further?

So municipal councillors can attempt to justify their pay demands?

Why should they? See, this just strikes me as unnecessary regulation. The province already has rules in place, why do the cities need to go further?

Saanich council are calling the current housing market a housing crisis, so you would expect them to enact some form of framework to clarify council's stance on housing-related issues so as to avoid confusion.

And it's not a difficult job, either. All Saanich has to do is adapt what Victoria has done.

What surprises me is Saanich, the most populated municipality, does not have its own guidelines in place:

I don't think there are many municipalities that have their own guidelines. Richmond has adopted guidelines within the last year. Burnaby, the epicentre of "demovictions" in BC, only adopted their guidelines this summer.

Right, but it’s only in Greater Vic and Metro Van where this is considered an issue as older housing stock is replaced.

Anyways, it’s not big deal. Developers can refer to the RTA and the CoV’s policies for the time being.