It is almost over.
Soon Squamish will have a new council and a new board of education.
The time to learn about the candidates ends somewhere after 8 a.m. this Saturday, when voting begins at the Brennan Park Recreation Centre.
Choosing which candidates to vote for hasn’t been easy. Eight of the 20 councillor candidates are on the ballot for the first time.
Getting to know the newcomers as well as we know the candidates seeking re-election is challenging with 20 candidates trying to get voter attention.
Voting based solely on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) issue will be the route many voters take, despite the fact that it isn’t the only important issue Squamish faces.
When asked for their thoughts on the LNG export facility proposed for the former Woodfibre pulp mill site by The Squamish Chief, only two candidates came straight out and said they support the proposal.
Rob Weys and Brad Hodge have left no doubt about their support.
On the other side of the debate, eight candidates have spoken against the industrial development. Patricia Heintzman, Debra McBride, Chris Pettingill, Auli Parviainen, Peter Kent, Karen Elliott, Glenne Campbell and Phil Audet have all made it clear they don’t support the LNG proposal.
The LNG issue is the biggest issue in this election with easily defined ‘yes’ and ‘no’ sides.
The other big issues are shaded with more grey. This election is an unofficial referendum on the LNG issue. If four or more of the firmly anti-LNG candidates make it into office, the tone of the discussion on the LNG file will shift from where it sits now.
Setting the LNG issue aside, there are four incumbents seeking a return to their councillor seats so that leaves eight candidate names we’ve seen previously on a ballot.
All three of the mayoral contenders are experienced campaigners, with Ron Bahm the only one of the trio who doesn’t have previous experience on council.
Kirkham has taken a conservative approach to the LNG issue. He says he can’t support the project unless all “the environmental impact concerns have adequately been addressed.”
Heintzman asks if the project is worth it.
“No,” she says in answer to her own question.
Barring a small miracle for Ron Bahm, it looks like the next mayor of Squamish is going to be either Kirkham or Heintzman.
The councillor choices in this race are more difficult to analyze in a concise fashion due to the fact that we have 20 from which to choose.
We have a council most people agree is doing an acceptable job. For the most part, this group has been an effective council.
Most of the candidates, newcomers and experienced campaigners alike, have mounted strong campaigns, with a few really taking their efforts up a few notches in the final two weeks of the campaign.
Regardless of who makes the cut to create the next council, there is no doubt this next group is facing some critical issues as the LNG issue plods along and the Squamish Oceanfront Development lands beg to be developed.
The Cheema family might also push this next council to allow development to begin on the district lots between the Garibaldi Highlands and Alice Lake Provincial Park.
Other issues facing the next council include homelessness, keeping the community’s aging water and sewage infrastructure operating efficiently, growing demand for recreation facilities (number one on the list being a new ice surface), the Garibaldi at Squamish boundary change request, and ensuring the diking system is maintained to keep river and ocean waters out of populated areas.
In these last few days of the campaigning, a number of Internet posts have indicated voter fatigue has set in for a few people due to campaign negativity.
I can’t wrap my head around making the choice to skip voting because some people aren’t playing nice. Stick it to those people by voting for the people who represent your views.
Anger can be nicely replaced by happiness when a big X is put beside the names of the people who best represent this community’s values.
