2023 By-Election Results
Time to Move Forward
NSCV is pleased to congratulate Kristine Marshall on her landslide victory for the position of Councillor in North Saanich!
We also extend our thanks to the two other candidates who, along with Kristine, put themselves into the public spotlight with all the attendant risks and challenges.
Through following the campaigns of all three candidates, we have come to believe that Kristine will be a hard-working and focused addition to the governance team. Her recognition of the rural character of North Saanich has been noted and supported by the voters who gave her 69.9% of the votes cast.
Some candidates, campaigners and media commentators attempted to breathe life into the deflated notion that North Saanich is a deeply divided community over housing issues. The results of both the 2022 general election and yesterday’s by-election again refute this claim.
In both elections, successful Council candidates supporting the rural nature of the District within the broader CRD context captured 70% or more of the votes cast. These numbers do not indicate a division within the community, but rather a strong support for the vision for land use in North Saanich as guided by the CRD Regional Growth Strategy. The RGS is entirely clear that particular segments of the CRD have a regional planning role that does not emphasize housing. By its placement entirely outside the Urban Containment Boundary, North Saanich is in that non-urban segment.
The results of the last two elections, as well as the results of numerous surveys and public engagements over the years can give us confidence in recognizing the many areas upon which residents of all leanings agree. Rather than focussing on conflicting irreconcilable land use visions, we can join in designing an Official Community Plan to reflect a vision and goals based upon these areas of agreement: preserving and enhancing North Saanich’s rural-residential and agricultural character, and marine and other natural environments; enhancing food security and agriculture for the whole region; and addressing the urgent demands of climate change, while taking advantage of opportunities to provide any truly affordable housing allowed for within the limitations of our infrastructure and our role in the RGS.
In doing so, North Saanich will be providing significant benefit to not only our own residents, but also present and future residents of the whole region.
We believe that Kristine Marshall, along with most of the current Mayor and Council, recognizes and supports this worthy goal.
Other candidates and other voices, while endlessly flogging the well understood problem side of the housing question have routinely failed to provide any concrete solutions to the problem, notwithstanding that North Saanich has other important roles within the CRD. They continue to be distracting background noise rather than a useful clarion call for unity and progress. We invite them now to join in creating an OCP that reflects the many areas upon which we all agree.
Once again, we are heartened to find that the thoughtful and dedicated voters of North Saanich maintain support for our Mayor and Council who are able to understand the role of North Saanich in the regional planning process. North Saanich Community Voices is grateful to those voters who turned out to support Kristine Marshall, whom we trust will work with Council to create and work towards the vision that is once again confirmed by these election results.
================================
By-election 2023 Preliminary Results
As Declared by the District of North Saanich on July 8, 2023
Raymon Farmere 50 votes
Ryan Lay 471 votes
Kristine Marshall 1210 votes -- ELECTED
A total of 1731 votes (16% of eligible voters).
North Saanich Community Voices congratulates Kristine Marshall on her win and thanks all candidates for their willingness to serve their community.
Posted on July 7, 2023
Greetings!
Just a reminder that Saturday, July 8, is voting day for the by-election in North Saanich. The polling station at the District of North Saanich hall, 1620 Mills Rd., is open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
We at North Saanich Community Voices believe that Kristine Marshall (marshall4council.ca) will be a fantastic councillor who will work on behalf of all North Saanich residents. Kristine is:
· a registered parliamentarian, facilitating strategic planning and effective organizational structures, board governance and meeting management
· business analyst and organizational coach
· trained in governance and team building
· member of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee and the Indigenous Engagement Committee for her current employer
· served on numerous other boards, committees and advisory councils
· spent much of her time volunteering with various organizations and committees advising on food security and agriculture, conservation, and the natural environment
· current member of the North Saanich Community Agriculture Commission
· evidence-based decision-maker
· strong believer in the importance of community service and building community
· active member of the community
· owner, with her husband Allan, of a small farm and apiary which produces honey she sells at the North Saanich Farm Market
· has demonstrated that she wants the job and your vote
o she and her campaign team have knocked on over 1000 doors in North Saanich
o has provided a website, marshall4council.ca, which includes links to interviews with all three candidates
o sent out flyers to all homes in North Saanich
As far as we’ve been able to find out, the other local candidate, Ryan Lay, has not sent out many flyers, nor does he have a website. And if he’s made any significant effort to talk to people on their doorsteps, our inquiries haven’t been able to find that out (but we stand to be corrected on that). One could be forgiven for wondering how badly he wants the job if he doesn’t make much of an effort to help us learn anything about him or what he stands for. (The third candidate, Raymon Farmere, votefarmere.ca, has previously run unsuccessfully for mayor of Nanaimo and councillor of Oak Bay, and lives in Victoria, so as far as NSCV is concerned, that’s enough said about him.)
The Candidates:
Kristine has lived in North Saanich for 12 years. “As a parliamentarian, strategic thinker and consensus builder, I will bring 20 years of experience working with boards, effective governance models and leading community engagement to Council.
“North Saanich plays a unique role in the Southern Vancouver Island region. Informed by the regional growth strategy and the urban containment boundary, local policies should carefully consider our forests, green spaces, farmland, marine areas and appropriate housing. With global pressures of climate change, local agricultural viability and food sustainability are essential now, and for our shared future.
“I believe that community members have a wealth of expertise, experience, and traditional knowledge. Strong, resilient communities are created through collaborative and transparent public engagement by providing residents and our First Nations meaningful opportunities to engage on issues.
“North Saanich, ‘the land where it is good to be’. A councillor’s job is to provide stewardship to ensure this remains so for generations to come.”
Email: kristine@marshall4council.ca Website: marshall4council.ca
Raymon Farmere:
Raymon lives in Victoria. “My name is Raymon Farmere, I am a Business Administration and Digital Marketing teacher in addition to being the Campus Director of Multihexa College in Victoria. I am running independently in this by-election. I am grateful and thankful to my nominators who helped me participate in this by-election. If elected to the position of councillor, I would like to do the following: get grants from the provincial government to give North Saanich more emergency and police services. Assist with making more affordable housing options available in the community. I would also like to come up with funding to raise the frequency of BC Transit Services coming into and going out of the community, so that residents have more transportation options. If elected I would like to hold town hall meetings to hear what residents in the community would like to see more of, and I will make your concerns my priorities.” Raymon is a member of the People’s Party of Canada, and has previously run unsuccessfully (finishing last in both cases) for mayor of Nanaimo, and for Councillor in Oak Bay.
Phone: 778-700-9205
Email: travisfarmere@gmail.com Website: votefarmere.ca
Ryan Lay:
Ryan has lived in North Saanich for nearly 4 years. “I was born and raised in Victoria, but moved away for university in 1996. I returned to the Peninsula [Sidney] in 2016 with my family and have loved every minute of living here. The rural nature of the community and being next to the ocean are two of my favourite things about North Saanich.
“I am very interested in community and how communities organize themselves and solve problems at the local level and am excited about the opportunity to contribute in this way. I am a lawyer by training and have experience working in other levels of government, and private practice. I am excited for the future of our community and look forward to this opportunity to serve.”
Email: robertryanlay@shaw.ca Phone: 250-937-9244
Radio Sidney Candidate Interviews
Kristine Marshall: https://soundcloud.com/user-595262273/ns-by-election-2023-kristine-marshall
Raymon Farmere: https://soundcloud.com/user-595262273/ns-by-election-2023-raymon-farmere
Ryan Lay: https://soundcloud.com/user-595262273/ns-by-election-2023-ryan-lay
All-Candidates Meeting Link
The North Saanich Residents Association held an All-Candidates Meeting on June 13, in which all three candidates participated (one online). A video of the meeting is available here:
https://www.placespeak.com/en/topic/6103-north-saanich-residents-association/#/overview
All elections are important – be sure to vote on June 28, July 5 or July 8
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments and contributions are welcome, but must remain within the bounds of good taste. Vulgarity, abusive comments, and personal attacks will not be tolerated. The NSCV reserves the right to moderate inappropriate comments.