Just three days before election day, the Davis Bay-Wilson Creek-Selma Park Community Association hosted the last Sechelt all candidates meeting.
During the two-hour event, all of the 17 candidates were in attendance and answered the five questions they had been sent in advance. They were joined by around 45 people at the Davis Bay Community Hall and more than 100 livestream viewers on Oct. 12.
“Refreshing” rebuttal
Some of the evening’s stand-out moments could be found in the 30-second rebuttals each candidate had the choice of using (but only once).
First to use their rebuttal — to the first question, no less — was incumbent councillor Brenda Rowe. She responded to candidate Darren Inkster’s dig that there has been “bragging” from the members of council standing for re-election about their work on water. Inkster himself pointed out later in the evening that he has a combined 16 years on Sechelt council.
“Let's not kid ourselves that this water problem occurred in the last four years,” Rowe said. “There's plenty of people sitting up here that aren’t current incumbents but have served time on council. Since this has been addressed, what wasn't planned for becomes a crisis. That's where we are today. Four years ago, council of the day couldn’t decide between drawdown Chapman versus a reservoir…” She began to point to the well project expected to come online, when her time ran out.
The third question, regarding community engagement and council decisions feeling “rushed”, inspired several rebuttals. Incumbent councillor Alton Toth clarified that council members do attend community association meetings when invited. In defense of Zoning Bylaw 580, which was adopted on Oct. 6 to update land use in Sechelt, Toth said it had been underway since 2014. “How long is it supposed to take?” Toth quipped in response to some candidates, including former mayor John Henderson, saying they thought the zoning bylaw was rushed.
Adam Shepherd, who is part of the East Porpoise Bay Community Association and running for a council seat, used his 30-second slot to come to Toth and incumbent mayor Darnelda Siegers’s defense. He said Toth “never fails” to appear when asked, and that Siegers always shows up and responds to tough questions when she’s invited.
Moderator Keith Van Brabant called Shepherd’s rebuttal “refreshing.” The moment of levity arrived halfway through the event, and inspired a round of laughter from the audience and candidates.
Another round of rebuttals followed the question about taxes. Councillor candidate Warren Allan said he can’t support developments whose only contribution is how much they’ll bring in in taxes. Henderson used his time to commend the current council in obtaining $14 million in grants, mentioned how the water resource centre (WRC) loans will be fully repaid in two years and told attendees not to believe that the WRC is reaching capacity.
To the last question of the night, about the Highway 101 bypass study ending at Havies, councillor candidate Tim Horner gave a “quick kudos” to the candidates. A final round of laughter came when candidate Donna Bell gave her closing remarks and said, “I’m going to die here [in Sechelt]. Not tonight!”
What about Havies?
The name Havies came up in two questions and two contexts at the meeting: The first question asked about approving developments such as Homei Group’s The Havies (a 99-unit subdivision slated for between Davis Bay and Selma Park) during water shortages, while another question asked about a proposed bypass ending at Havies Road.
Incumbents attempted to set the record straight about that the authority to make a moratorium on development lies with the regional district, not Sechelt. Siegers clarified that the Havies subdivision has not been approved by Sechelt council, but granted a development permit with conditions that need to be met — and a lot of work to be done before it can be considered for a subdivision bylaw.
After his remark about council “bragging,” Inkster’s response included that Sechelt needs to look at new developments supplying their own cisterns and water-saving devices and perhaps limiting their size.
Several candidates, including Anna Jade Chen and Horner, spoke in support of building a reservoir. Mayoral candidate Jeri Patterson said there is not water for subdivisions or development, and others such as Bell were in favour of curbing development in light of the water situation.
Rowe said, “It's hard to say limit development in one sentence, and we need housing in the next”. She said development will not happen overnight, and there is a need for workforce and seniors housing. She also cited the need to work with the province to develop legislation and building guidelines, including the use of grey water.
Henderson said Sechelt can and must proceed with both [water and development] and said he has plans for water sources, but he did not specify. While he called the marketing of the Havies “disgraceful,” Henderson said he liked the included sewer extension for the project.
Some candidates focused their answers on the conformity of the proposed Havies subdivision. Mayoral candidate Allan Holt said there are still hoops for that project to jump through and that “Everyone in front of you today will tell you what you want to hear to get elected to suit their particular agenda.” Other candidates said the proposal does conform with the OCP, but there was disagreement.
Regarding the bypass study, all of the candidates were against the idea of ending the bypass at Havies road. Alternative suggestions differed from the bypass following the Hydro right-of-way between Langdale and at least Sechelt (councillor candidate Dianne McLauchlan was against this idea in the event of an earthquake), some emphasizing coordinating with shíshálh Nation, and comments on the often-requested second ferry to service Route 3.
Ideas for trimming taxes
An idea mentioned by several candidates (including Holt, Chris Moore, Horner and Rowe) is to grow the commercial tax base in Sechelt so less of it is shouldered by residents.
McLauchlan said having one lower Sunshine Coast government would cut costs through administration and remote working options.
There was agreement among the answers about the Official Community Plan: it needs to be updated.
Closing comments
At the end of the meeting, Van Brabrant thanked the candidates for “applying for a job where it pays the shit and you can never have a lonely wander through the grocery store again.” The audience and candidates alike laughed, as he continued: “The work that happens in our municipal offices [is of] paramount importance to our future, as we see right now.”
The video recording of the event can be found on the Davis Bay-Wilson Creek-Selma Park Community Association’s YouTube page.
