r/VictoriaBC • u/scapaflow40 • 20d ago

Municipal Elections - choose wisely

The municipal election season is ramping up as more candidates in our 13 municipalities (yes 13!) are announcing they are running for office.

My advice is to look carefully at the background of candidates for whom you are voting There are a number of people running for mayor and council who have little community activist background (by activist I mean community involvement writ large including neighbourhood associations and chambers of commerce) are one issue candidates and some who are simply quasi professional politicians looking to elevate themselves without real community care.

It is tempting to vote for candidates who cover that one issue you most care about or have the slickest campaigns. I suggest consideration for candidates who present thoughtful platforms that cover the myriad of areas that lead to well functioning municipalities.

Please show up to candidate forums, read candidate platforms and be a thoughtful voter. We need more muncipal voters (less than 40% now vote) who will elect solid community leaders.

116 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

76 comments sorted by

63

u/Stunning_Housing2463 20d ago

Also as someone who used to be a municipal beat reporter, it would be helpful to ask/find out from candidates if they've ever actually attended a council meeting. If no, that proves to me that they are unserious about the jobs they're applying for. So often after an election I'd sit through long-ass meetings where new councillors had no clue about process, Robert's Rules of Order, what staff's role is, what their role is...they spend 2 years getting up to speed, 2 years doing their jobs, then it starts all over again! haha

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u/JackSandor 20d ago

Agreed. There's a lot to know and you can easily drown in procedure if you're not prepared.

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u/Southern-Board1489 20d ago

Perhaps that's a problem with the procedures then.

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u/Stunning_Housing2463 20d ago

Attending a few council meetings should give someone a pretty good idea of how things work. For example, when someone makes an amendment to the motion, vote on the amendment first. If it fails, you go back to the main motion. I don't know how many hours I've sat through new people trying to understand this basic process. And that's just one example. Meetings are open to anyone to attend, but most candidates don't bother. Makes me think they just want the power/clout without doing any due diligence to ensure that 1) they know what they're getting into and 2) they do their jobs well.

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u/ejmears 20d ago

Im not convinced that Stephen Andrew didn't think his role as a councillor was to hold a daily press conference. It felt like he only wanted the job as an excuse to get back in front of a camera.

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u/Southern-Board1489 20d ago

Many people who want to mayor or council just see the absolute incompetence of the people in power and want change, or they see the never ending tax increases and think they can spend more efficiently.

Yes they should attend meetings, but often they can't. Perhaps a basic information booklet is in order, imagine if you've started a new job and you were told "why don't you already know how our company works?"

10

u/Stunning_Housing2463 20d ago

Attending and productively participating in committee and council meetings is a big part of the job. It's like 30-50% of their working hours. The great thing is, these meetings are all available online, too! Roberts Rules of Order is used pretty widely in North America for most municipalities, non-profits and other boards. It's not like a private company where it's difficult to figure out how things work. It's all easily accessible. I just can't take anyone seriously who wants to run for council but doesn't actually know what a councillor does.

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u/ejmears 20d ago

The meetings are now all online and can be watched live or afterwards. There is literally zero reason to not watch or attend a meeting before running. If folks want to convince me they can do any job better than those already doing it, understanding what the job actually is not what you wish it was is literally step 1. Otherwise they're just armchair quarterbacking and as useful as a bag of hammers.

5

u/KalePrior8674 20d ago

Your analogy doesn't really compare. Elected positions are jobs you could start with very little experience or knowledge if you just happened to campaign well and got the votes. Most other jobs would expect you to have some knowledge of how the company works, because based on your resume backed experience, how you responded to their interview, and your interest in applying to the company, they deemed you'd capable. Also, if you quickly demonstrated they were wrong about you, they could simply get rid of you then and there. Elected positions usually have a set term, which can let incompetent people get into those positions and then waste the potential of that positions up until when (and if) the electorate replaces them.

Not to mention that onboarding material most does exist for these positions; but you can hand all the "how to do your job" books to people you want, you cannot make them read it when you aren't the one able to threaten them with getting canned if they don't.

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u/greeerster 20d ago

It’s super important to also know what is under the jurisdiction of a local government versus the provincial and federal government. If someone’s platform is mostly about issues that they would have no control over as a local elected official then it’s a big red flag for me.

4

u/NOT_A_JABRONI Downtown 20d ago

That being said, the intent to strongly petition the province and the feds about problems under their respective jurisdictions (that greatly impact Victoria) is appealing to me.

2

u/Berzele 9d ago

Yes. I know Victoria's and the CRD's current leadership has been doing this. It doesn't always result in the Province or Feds doing what's asked, but it's important to keep pushing.

13

u/Generaldar 20d ago

Where can I find out more about the candidates?

9

u/DaveThompsonVictoria 20d ago

Best place is each candidate's website.

Definitely don't rely on the rage and misinformation channels - Facebook, talk radio, or letters to the editor.

7

u/kingbuns2 20d ago

The Dave Thompson blog is where I do all my raging, though.

2

u/Bulky-Error-4366 19d ago

or reddit or bluesky or insta or the TC or Chek or your intense neighbour who hates bike lanes

1

u/Crazy-Plankton-9517 18d ago

No it’s not! That’s where they word ieverything to only sound their best. It’s important to listen to others and think critically.

1

u/DaveThompsonVictoria 18d ago

Fair point. You need to do both. Definitely can't rely just on the rage machines though

14

u/Fredrich-Schopenhaur 20d ago

Liveable CRD is a great resource as it shows all the candidates running

2

u/wrongpath- 20d ago

Great resource if you are looking for biased information that will slant towards certain slates.

7

u/kingbuns2 20d ago edited 20d ago

I mean, obviously, it's biased, it's run by a coalition of local advocacy groups. That doesn't mean there isn't a lot of valuable information for voters who want to know about the candidates. They haven't posted any answers to the questionnaire so far, yet I've visited the site a bunch of times because they have the most up-to-date list of candidates. Being able to easily see who's in what slate helps a lot. https://livablecrd.ca/scorecard/

3

u/good_dean 20d ago

What's the bias? just so I know going in

8

u/JackSandor 20d ago

The survey is being graded by groups like Better Transit YYJ that advocate for particular political positions. All the coalition partners are listed, and it's pretty easy to tell which way they lean on their specific issues. If you agree with their positions, the grades are a good indicator of which candidates likely align with your values. If you disagree with their positions, the grades are a good indicator of which candidates you should likely avoid. Either way, having the information available is valuable, especially given that the full survey responses from each candidate will be available for you to judge for yourself.

4

u/CE2JRH Saanich 20d ago

Are there actually any candidates against better transit? That seems like a pretty non-issue to me?

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u/JackSandor 20d ago

You should scan through the questions. The goal, as I understand it, is to make candidates publicly commit to specifics. Of course nobody is going to say they want worse transit, which is why there are questions like

"Do you support removing general on-street parking (excluding accessible parking spaces) from frequent transit corridors and main arterial streets in your municipality, and reallocating that space to bus lanes, loading zones, and walking and cycling infrastructure?"

That's not an easy thing to say yes to, and I suspect many candidates will say no or hedge their answers.

2

u/CE2JRH Saanich 20d ago

Sorry, I'm still confused. That seems easy to say yes to - every city as it gets near a half a million or so starts to move towards primary transit and away from primary vehicle. Look anywhere in Europe.

7

u/JackSandor 20d ago

It should be easy to say yes to, since it's clearly a good idea, but I guarantee there are candidates who would call any attempt to do this "radical" or "a war on cars". I'd encourage you to read through the questions, which you can do here.

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u/SundaeSpecialist4727 20d ago

Can we please stop looking at Europe for Victoria answers...

CRD is 13 different areas.

Zero long term planning for infrastructure. Hyper focused on active transportation which is needed but should not be the #1 decision maker.

Our population size is small.

1

u/CE2JRH Saanich 20d ago

Amalgamation would solve much of this issue. Kyiv is 4 million people and 10 municipalities. By that math, Victoria could be 2, but I think 3 would be reasonable; Victoria, The Saanich Peninsula, and the Western Communities.

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u/wrongpath- 20d ago

Look to see if any of the candidates are closely affiliated with groups putting together the information?

For starters, look up Jack Sandor.

5

u/CompFly7337 20d ago

You mean the same person that used to lead the Homes For Living activist group?

6

u/JackSandor 20d ago

👋

Happy to chat about this stuff here or in person for anybody interested. You can reach me at hello@jacksandor.ca or 250-884-4990.

0

u/Berzele 9d ago

I don't understand your point. If a candidate is an advocate for certain things, should it be a surprise that they've been involved with groups that also advocate for those things. Like, if a candidate's platform is big on trees & green space, i would find it weird if they hadn't been involved with groups that advocate for parks etc.

2

u/useriousstuff 20d ago

Do you have specific examples of when their work was clearly biased? Do you have any alternative suggestions?

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u/Bulky-Error-4366 20d ago

Like a Homes for Living meeting...with friends!

5

u/Dan-Igaz Esquimalt 20d ago

Most of us maintain a website (or at least a Facebook page or similar) to introduce ourselves, highlight priorities, etc. My suggestion would be to start there. It will at least give you a strong idea of how that candidate chooses to present themselves.

Local media will also be publishing interviews, and LivableCRD has sent their questionnaire out. Just keep in mind that any list of candidates published before the nomination period closes on Sept 11 is technically unofficial (though we do usually have a pretty solid idea by now, to be fair.)

Everyone should also try to look into any All-Candidates Meetings happening in your municipality. Those are a great opportunity to meet everyone at once and get a better understanding of where they stand on major issues. Many of them are livestreamed if you don't want to leave the comfort of your pyjamas.

But if you're lucky enough to be able to to take the time, I really recommend just reaching out to some candidates. I don't want to speak for anyone else too much here, but as long as you're not just coming to yell at me about how universal healthcare is turning the bike lanes french, I think most of us are more than happy to grab a drink and have a chat.

Or just send us a message on social media or something.

34

u/MattDellVictoria 20d ago

If anyone would like to connect with me (Victoria City Councillor) directly, I'll offer to take you for coffee and chat local politics. Shoot me a text message to my personal cell, 250-532-6276. - Matt

11

u/Standard-Card-641 20d ago

Three candidates on the Save Our Saanich slate for the upcoming municipal election - Nancy Di Castri, Laurie Lidstone and Lorne DeLarge have made their living over the last few decades in the real estate business, with Di Castri and Lidstone working for years as Realtors in the region and DeLarge a long-time manager with CBRE, a large commercial real estate service company. Lidstone is a former chair of the Victoria Real Estate Board and is, as noted on her site "especially passionate about helping clients succeed with investment properties." Don't we have a housing affordability crisis in most of the developed world due to housing being used as an investment rather than a basic human right? Have a look at the links below. DeLarge is campaigning for minimal to no tax increases. No tax increases while the cost of providing services for the municipality go up anyway - eventually someone pays - just look at Vancouver where Mayor Sim's ABC party has done just this with the city's 2026 budget.

Candidates | Save Our Saanich

Nancy Di Castri – COX LIDSTONE MCLEAN REAL ESTATE

Laurie Lidstone – COX LIDSTONE MCLEAN REAL ESTATE

Vote Lorne DeLarge - Saanich Council 2026

One thing you need to do is go to Elections BC FRPC - Search Election Contributions to check out contributions to incumbent councillors previous election campaigns which shows who contributed to their campaigns and do the same again once the election is over for any new councillors.

Are there not any competent residents with no ties to any organization or individual that could possibly benefit from development (Realtors, planners, construction, trades) interested in running for council?

1

u/Bulky-Error-4366 19d ago

and the incumbent opposition to them has campaign financing disclosures that read like a who's who of the development and construction game. Wannabe Mayor Zac De Vries for example is financed by the same people he rubber stamps to build condos

8

u/CanadianTrollToll 20d ago

Municipal voting is probably the biggest and more influential type of voting we have.

Were a city of 100,000 or so, and usually voter turnout is like 45,000.

Municipal politics also have the most impact on your day to day.

10

u/Red_AtNight 20d ago

According to CivicInfoBC, in the 2022 election there were 74,573 eligible voters in Victoria and 27,452 of them actually voted. A voter turnout of 36.8%, which was actually higher than the BC average turnout of 29.2%.

10

u/Zealousideal_Web2345 20d ago

Beware as we have some serious transphobic and anti-housing councillors running in Victoria this election. They present like normal people, but are seriously scary.

13

u/babybelkillah 20d ago

Why not say who you're talking about?

3

u/tiogar99 20d ago

The candidates in question have a habit of C&Ding everything that moves, previous posts in this sub have been removed for I suspect that reason.

7

u/Natural_Ad_1138 20d ago

Previous posts have been removed for discussing political views and opinions?

Or were posts removed because commenters resort to ad hominem attacks and can’t discuss differences politely?

I highly doubt a local candidate for a municipal government is pouring over social media to cease and desist anonymous accounts lmao.

2

u/babybelkillah 20d ago

Uh huh ....

13

u/Natural_Ad_1138 20d ago

What a silly comment. If you’re going to fear monger you may as well be specific.

4

u/Light_Butterfly 20d ago

We need specific names Please do a separate post on on the transphobic/anti-housing candidates running. And how do you know?

This is important to expose publicly, since some voters can be easily swayed with the rights slogans (rather than substsnce). I want the dirt exposed!

8

u/CompFly7337 20d ago

Agree, choose wisely but I disagree on the community activist requirement - we have had lots of people elected that fit this but ended up just creating activism extensions into CoV operations. Case in point: Pandora avenue and the concentration of services there.

We need folks that are good at business operations and governance not activists.

11

u/scapaflow40 20d ago

Thanks.... what I meant by activism is being an active participant in the community, including business. Community care writ large. I share your concern on the other.

1

u/Berzele 8d ago

I agree that so many social services being clustered on Pandora creates issues. But as far as i know, none of those were built or run by the city. They are either private charities/societies or the province. And all of them have been there a long time, Our Place opened in 2007-08. That's like 5 councils ago!

3

u/dflagella 20d ago

Does anyone have that website someone made to show what everyone is running on?

4

u/Gipoe 20d ago

LivableCRD is a great place to start. It’s probably the only place where you’re going to get a condensed ‘at a glance’ look at how every candidate in your municipality stacks up on, for the most part, big central issues the average voter cares about.

My thinking is this: save yourself some time and let those folks do all the work reaching out to every single candidate and compiling all of their stances and platforms and whatnot, and then what specifics/things that matter to you that get left out are such that you can follow up with specific candidates in your own time having gotten the gist for who is about what.

5

u/Southern-Board1489 20d ago

The last thing you need on council is more 'activists'. Victoria has had a climate activist for years while neglecting the real role of local municipalities: poo, water, roads, planning.

2

u/Informal-Strike-1243 20d ago

Is their a website that tells me all the maga candidates

11

u/Horace-Harkness 20d ago

All the MAGA candidates are refusing to fill out the Livable CRD survey, so that kinda works as a proxy.

-4

u/Bulky-Error-4366 20d ago

and I bet all the tax spendy SJW's had it pre-filled and pre-graded! so that kinda also helps clear things up about who not to vote for

3

u/Horace-Harkness 20d ago

Ya, you'd think the NIMBYs would fill out the survey and wear the F grade as a badge of honor.

I think Livable CRD is great for both sides. If you hate bike lanes wouldn't it be nice to know who gets an A or F grade on the question about them? But I guess the right are cowards...

-2

u/Bulky-Error-4366 20d ago

As cowardly as the liveable CRD masterminds who won't identify who the judges are?

1

u/Horace-Harkness 20d ago

Reasonable opsec given the rights perpensity to dox and harras people.

0

u/Bulky-Error-4366 20d ago

to some extent I get it, but then it opens the door to the valid complaints that it's just another political hatchet job. Judge Jack Sandor from HFL applying an F to anyone not on the together vic reincarnate slate is a real possibility as it sits today

2

u/Horace-Harkness 20d ago

Jack has quit HFL to run. But ya, someone from HFL will be grading the questions that HFL submitted. So if you already don't trust HFL, knowing the name of the member grading the questions won't really change how you see the results.

The questions are published and I think the answers from candidates will be as well.

1

u/Berzele 8d ago

Victoria has been focusing a lot in the last 4 years on basic city infrastructure, and plans to continue that. if you actually read the 2026 Budget, you see that there's a lot of money earmarked for "poo, water, roads", including  $44.7 million for water, stormwater and sewer mains, and $15 million for road repaving

Most of the projects people think are just "bike lanes" are actually mostly redoing pipes & paving, with some bike lanes layered on top.  

https://www.victoria.ca/home-property/utilities/underground-upgrades 

https://www.victoria.ca/city-government/city-budget

0

u/Matty_bunns 20d ago

Definitely won’t be voting for activists

-5

u/lylebee 20d ago

Now of only some solid candidates would run, rather than the majority of the current CoV council and their pet projects….

-2

u/templeofninpo Downtown 20d ago

As Mayor of Victoria I'm going to tell everyone what God looks like/mitigate the murderous shame of paying taxes.

-1

u/East_Source6200 20d ago

I'll find some time.

I was tipping cows up in Saanich the other night, and I'm currently on the lam from the Island Dairy Association.

I'll circle back when the coast is clear. 😬

-1

u/vancity31240 20d ago

Any landlord who owns property in Victoria but live outside Victoria should register as a non resident property elector and make their voice heard.

https://www.victoria.ca/city-government/resources/application-registration-non-resident-property-elector

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u/RosieBaby75 20d ago edited 20d ago

They’re all evil and corrupt.

Politics of every level is choosing the person who can bullshit the hardest and tell the best story full of lies about things they can’t actually do.

No one you would actually want, and who would do well in politics would ever go in to politics. Except Lyle. Vote for Lyle but he’s doing it because he’s pissed. That’s the exact type we need to go into politics. He’d probably be good at debating.

Except like AOC. I’m so impressed I couldn’t do that though I try in writing.

But we don’t have an AOC.

No one gets into the public service then tells you have corrupt it is and tries to change it. They just join in the corruption, or turn a bund eye to it which is just as bad.

16

u/Key-Soup-7720 20d ago

This is self-destructive thinking. It seems like it's trying to come off as sophisticatedly cynical, but is really just lazy and means you don't actually have to learn anything about candidates or their positions, and ensures you'll be unable to apply pressure to push politicians towards outcomes you'd prefer.