As has been done in past municipal elections, The Squamish Chief performed background checks on candidates running for municipal office this year.
To do so, The Squamish Chief performed searches in the traffic and criminal databases of the B.C. provincial court system.
In addition, since elected officials will have power over land use decisions and development, The Squamish Chief reviewed the District of Squamish's building permit database to see what potential development interests each candidate has.
For the traffic and criminal database searches, there were no major results that turned up for any of the candidates, aside from relatively minor traffic tickets.
Regarding building permits, there were two candidates who had building permits logged in the District of Squamish's database — Andrew Hamilton and Rajan Hans.
Hamilton has a building permit logged for one property and Hans has permits logged for six properties. The building permit information is current as of Oct. 6.
Andrew Hamilton
Hamilton has a permit for residential single-family home property on Perth Drive in the Garibaldi Highlands that is currently in progress. It was issued in May 2022.
When reached for comment, Hamilton said that it was a home renovation that would add a garage space, a one-bedroom suite above the garage and a working space for his wife behind the garage.
The one-bedroom suite would be used for long-term rentals and the working space will be a clinic for his wife, who works as a massage therapist.
Hamilton said this permit was acquired after he requested a variance roughly a year ago. It underwent a public hearing before council at the time, but will not be appearing before council again.
There will be building inspections for the property around November, he said.
"I do see some small possibility of bias entering if an inspector views me in some way as a boss," said Hamilton. "I don't know what a reasonable solution to that is. Because I don't think … a councillor should not be able to do a home renovation … It's in my interest for them to complete a thorough inspection so that my home can be safe. Because that's what home inspections are for."
Rajan Hans
With respect to Hans, there are six properties listed in the District database that had Rajan Hans' name on it.
Hans told The Squamish Chief that this is because he was employed by his family business. He noted his campaign website states he has experience as a construction project manager.
"I have applied for building permits for the construction of my family homes," he wrote in an email. "I have also applied for building permits for the homes of extended family members during my position as a project manager."
With respect to the perception of conflicts of interest arising from this, Hans said that building permits are approved by the planning department, not council, which has no direct link to the planning department approval process for building permits.
The first property is listed as a single-family home on Cardinal Drive in Ravenswood. The permit was issued in April 2021 and is designated as complete.
There were three single-family homes with in-progress permits listed under Hans' name in Raven Drive, in the Loggers East neighbourhood. Two were issued in May 2022 and another was issued in July 2022.
Two more properties, both single-family homes, are listed as in-progress building permits on Mamquam Road at Legacy Ridge, near Quest University. They are registered to both Hans and PR West Developments. They were issued permits in October and November 2021.
Hans said PR West Developments is a holding company that his family owns. He said it has not applied for any development permit or rezoning in the District of Squamish and does not have any development interest besides from holding rental property.
There are also two properties with permits registered to PR West Developments alone, without Hans' name. These are a single-family home and a two-unit duplex. The first is on Cardinal Drive in Ravenswood. It was issued in April 2021. The second is on Honey Lane in Brackendale. It was issued in June 2021. Both are listed as completed.
He also noted that his family currently owns Bryan's Autobody shop, which he said is the family's main business.
"I will follow the standard procedure for all elected officials as the current and previous council members have by recusing themselves if conflict of interest arises," wrote Hans. "For example, as a board of director on the Squamish Chamber of Commerce, I will recuse myself if the Chamber comes forward to council with an application or grant. Similarly, I have volunteered with Squamish Eagle Watch and will recuse myself if they come forward to council. Furthermore, if there are any other conflicts, I will recuse myself from any council meeting where there is a conflict of interest as per the law and I will hold myself to higher bar and recuse myself [from] any sort of perceived conflict of interest."
