Attendees at last Wednesday’s all-candidates meeting who primed themselves by watching the film There Will Be Blood, an epic drama about the violence associated with the oil boom in early 20th century Southern California, were out of luck. This was a low-impact affair, focused more on offering council aspirants a political face-time opportunity and less on grandstanding, verbal joisting and finger pointing.
During their presentations candidates talked about the possibility of setting up a visual effects studio and establishing a value-added forestry products industry. Some announced that muni hall needs to become more visionary, respectful, transparent and collaborative. Affordable housing, public transit inefficiencies, infrastructure concerns, and issues related to the development of the Cheekye Fan area were also discussed.
Mayoral candidate Patty Heintzman promised “to hit the ground running," Rob Kirkham pledged to “keep the momentum that has already been created going," and fellow mayoral contender Ron Bahm said if elected he would “make things happen.” During the question and answer session, one resident from the Shannon Estates townhouse development cut to the chase and put those rose-scented declarations to the smell test. She inquired when council would finally staunch the stench wafting over the long-suffering complex from the sewage treatment plant across the road.
Another questioner wondered why a town filled with residents who dote on their cats and dogs is nickel and diming the local animal shelter. For the most part, during their presentations candidates gave only limited consideration to the Woodfibre LNG proposal, the Garibaldi at Squamish four-season resort, and the Squamish Oceanfront Development. Although that trifecta is obviously important, the negligible exposure it received is not surprising, given how divisive the Bermuda Triangle of local politics has become.
All in all, it was good to see how a communal gathering like this can divert our attention from the digitally driven social media world we inhabit, if only for one evening. It was also apparent this is a diverse and knowledgeable collection of council candidates, offering a varied array of platforms. And the over 500 residents attending the meeting, on a proverbial dark and stormy night, represented a broad demographic spectrum ranging from high school and university students, to seniors and every age cohort in between. That substantial turnout says a lot about this community’s rising level of interest in municipal politics. The challenge now is to convince eligible voters to cast their ballots on Election Day.
