How the Wetsuweten demonstrations and a Victoria byelection are related

Wednesday, September 04, 2024

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Nominations are about to open in the most interesting local byelection well see this year

The first political fallout from the demonstrations supporting Wetsuweten hereditary chiefs in their rejection of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project might happen in Victoria soon just not in the way you think.

An election begins this week that could give a better sense of public mood in a municipality where protests have been at the forefront of peoples minds. Nominations open Tuesday for a city council byelection, and its council has had a way in the past year of drawing the ire of people on both the right and left.

Consider: In April, some guy named John Horgan said they focus on issues that seem to be all driven at provincial policy ... and not a lot of resolutions at the issues that affect taxpayers in Victoria.

In October, Horgan talked about how all the new bike lanes in Victoria could be adding to congestion, throwing shade by saying I'm sure that the City of Victoria has their reasons and I'm going to leave it at that."

And last week, Horgan raised his ire at the leading vote-getter on council, Ben Isitt, and his decision to take part in the blockade of the legislature by saying my thoughts on that individual are not printable.

To read past issues of Metro Matters, click here

Horgan obviously isnt going to run for city council (we hear he likes his day job), but his comments indicate an unease some on the centre-left have with the current incarnation of council. And the presumed front-runner in the byelection, Stefanie Hardman, wrote last week about her support for the blockade at the legislature the day before it happened.

Theres always the danger of reading too much into any byelection, but this could be the exception. Given all the controversy over the past year, if Hardman ends up facing no serious competition its a clear sign that Victoria voters are reasonably happy with a council that has a more expansive notion of its jurisdiction than local government normally does.

But what if others put their names forward in the next 11 days, and run in opposition to the dominant political culture on council?

It will stand as an interesting litmus test of how much or how little the political ground has shifted since the 2018 elections.

The Look Back

1. Victoria

So, what exactly did councillor Ben Isitt do to incur the terse no comment from the premier? Take part in the blockade of the legislature, call the police departments investigation of an alleged assault fake news, and then continue to beef with the police chief on Twitter. Never a dull week for the capital citys most popular councillor!

Read more from CHEK

2. Surrey

Council established an ethics commissioner and asked staff to explore different forms of affordable housing in the future. Meanwhile, councillor and naturopath Allison Patton got her official punishment for falsely campaigning as a community physician last election: a $500 fine and a three-day ban.

Read more

3. Vancouver

Motions passed aplenty at council this week, including one pushing for more financial transparency in elections and asking for information to be released on the sale of the Little Mountain housing lands. Mayor Kennedy Stewart also said hell be pushing to limit property tax increases next year to five per cent or less.

Read more

4. West Kelowna

In a 2014 referendum, voters in the 13-year-old municipality rejected paying for a purpose-built city hall (the city currently works out of random buildings and portables), but last week council approved a way forward that doesnt require another referendum. You know what they say if at first you dont succeed, find a backdoor technicality.

Read more in the Daily Courier

5. Cranbrook

The biggest city in the Kootenays (population of 20,000) has been trying to kill dozens of deer roaming the city. But theres one problem. People keep destroying the traps council has approved laying out and the majority of cameras set up to monitor those traps have been mysteriously stolen.

Read more in the Cranbrook Daily Townsman

The Look Forward

1. B.C. Budget

Most councils are off this week due to Family Day, but local leaders will be keeping their eyes on Tuesdays provincial budget. Keep an eye out for whether the decision to extend the capital budget five years into the future (up from the current three) means anything for housing and transportation projects cities have requested.

2. Metro Vancouver

Regional governments are off this week as well, but Saturday brings the biannual Council of Councils meeting. Its mostly a chance for every committee to provide updates on the work theyve been doing, but its a good chance to get caught up on the current strategy for big issues assuming youre fine being up at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

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That's it for us this week! Check out the latest headlines at cbc.ca/bc and follow our municipal affairs reporter, Justin McElroy, on Twitter. And if you have any questions you might want answered in a future mailbag, drop Justin a line at metromatters@cbc.ca.

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