The pamphlet that was distributed to help people form an opinion before they decide to accept or reject first past the post election decisions leaves out as much as it attempts to explain IMO.
Any proportional representation system will come with a certainty that coalition governments will follow thereafter. Canada has had coalition governments in the past, and they never lasted very long. I can’t imagine a dog’s breakfast of political parties ever providing a stable government. One or two representatives of a splinter party can apply their leverage to disrupt legislation that might logically be beneficial to B.C.
Yes indeed we should look at Italy and what problems have resulted from many coalition governments. First Past the Post can look wrong from one viewpoint or another at times, but it has served democratic governments with stability during their term of office. There is much less complication when people decide to boot the out as well.

Beautiful Loretta. Linda was a wonderful person, her legacy will live on.

I agree with Nick Drake; also the Referendum people should have included it on the Oct 20 ballot; they chose a mail-in campaign which may now backfire with the rolling strikes by Canada Post, beginning with Victoria

DO you really vote depending on whether the candidate has indoor rather than outdoor plumbing?

Next time, try voting using more rational criteria.

“Please give Proportional Representation a two election cycle try. I might be dead before the experiment is finished about ten years from now, but I predict it will work out well for middle aged and younger people.”

No thanks.

Proportional Representation would mean only large cities would decide who is in charge. Since large cities all skew left, “progressive” ie socialist politicians would dominate.

Donald Trump won the last election even though Hilary Clinton won the popular vote. She won the big cities, he won the heartland.

The US Constitution set up the electoral college for just such an eventuality – to stop populous states from dominating sparsely populated states.

Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal will alone decide things if proportional representation is enacted.

3 of the 4 women running for Council won..3 of the 9 men won…AND none of these men had prior Council experience. That tells Kasper and Haldane something.Also the 4th woman lost credibility as she is married to Kasper
.Another lesson to the old status quo

These little insolated shelters are so easy to make and much needed for the kitties in the up coming wet cold days and nights. I have made several and the freaks that I feed love these shelters. I may even have a couple that I could donate to a feral colony that needs them :o)

glad to see the Pearson gang of Kasper and Eve and Haldane didn’t get their chance to ruin Sooke. I’m sure the underground ‘good ol boys’ controlling construction will continue. Nice to see council without the ones running to benefit themselves and not the rest of Sooke. Couldn’t have picked a better council and Mayor.
The time for illegal and dangerous business is past. The old Sooke is about to change for the better. Without Kasper and Reay we will save a lot on lawyers.

Congrats to the council Voted in. Some continuity as well as some new views. Thank you to everyone who voted.

Congratulations to winners and those who put their names forward.

Thanks for the voter turnout numbers for District of Sooke. I don’t know how many voters are registered for the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area. Hicks and Yates got 1033 votes between them with Hicks easily winning the seat.

What to say to the voters who stayed home? Democracy gets flabby if not exercised.

9862 voters were eligible to vote today in Sooke’s municipal election, only 41% took the time to vote, that’s only 4043 voters. Voting took 20 minutes out of my day, that’s including driving to and from EMCS. Election results weren’t what I had wished for but I had my say in who is going to decide the future of Sooke for the next 4 years. To those who ran for public office, I say “Thank you” whether you won or loss you stood for the betterment of Sooke and you should be very proud! Thank You! To those who won, I’ll be keeping my eye on you!

Please check your stats. As of 21:27, St Pierre 1579 votes (in), Beddows 1552 votes (in), Stewart 1536 votrs (out).

Your council numbers do not appear to be correct. You’ve mixed up Tony St. Pierre’s numbers with Jeff Stewart’s. Jeff was elected….not Tony.

Well said Loretta. Thank you for reminding us of Linda’s many attributes. A challenge to us all to do better

Nice poem. THanks for sharing.

My soul grieves her loss but through her inspiration continue the vital teacher training for language revitalization tlecko shiyashtido for your time with first peoples cultural council

I feel blessed to have travelled the sacred path with Linda on a number of occasions. A beautiful soul and a beautiful tribute by my dear friend Loretta.

What a great description of Linda Bristol. It helps people who did not meet Linda understand what a treasure she was and will be in the hearts of her family and friends.

Councillor Pearson has lots of ‘should’ but no statements on how he actually WILL do these things.
Have heard him respond to questions from residents and then give a 100% different answer to others.
Typical politician, no action just a lot of empty promisses. He has been on council for 8 years, will be nice to see him go this year and make room for a real worker.

My condolences to the family of Linda. We met through a friend and I was immediately impressed with her dedication to the traditional art forms of her culture. She will be forever in my thoughts and prayers. Awetza.

Iwhat a wonderful, warm gracious lady,I considered her a friend. She was always interested in everything that w as going on, even when she was not feeling a hundred percent. She was so proud of her nation and so caring for her family.
I will always remember you, Rest In Peace. You will be missed by all and forgotten by none.

Loretta
,

bla bla bla.. ok already we have heard it all before. what we really want is the address where we can get some.
Typical government going on and on but haven’t go a clue what the people think.

Doesn’t insurance cover this type of thing? The school must have something in place for this type of incident. It seems people are having to cover the costs of theft over and over again, and the thieves never get caught. But kudos to those who are stepping up to replace the kits to ensure the kids have supplies if needed.

I will up my donation to $50 to match Sooke Fax and copy. Challenge accepted, thank you!
Shane, Sooke Gutter

Sooke Fax & Copy Centre will donate $50 and challenge all other business owners to match this donation!

Early voting today. I did vote for Jeff Bateman with full confidence that he will do a great job on council.

WTF was that at 1:44:00??!…o_O are we not gonna talk about how bizzare that was?!

Good luck, Jeff. I think you would be a terrific member of council.

Small town, big town – what is the difference?? We are all people who live here with people needs. We are not cars or dollar bills walking around. We need shelter, food and nurturing. The CRD a very long time ago released a report that identified the walkable village model as the most sustainable for a happy, healthy future for everyone. When towns cater to cars and excessive profits for the few the result is something where no one wants to live. I would suggest if you just moved to Sooke to save a dollar or two the decision may need to be rethought. I’m sure it is less expensive to house in Victoria and not pay for the commute. I am sure this will be the case in the future with everyone being brutally awakened to the impeding consequences of our inattention to climate change.

On The head Tom Myrick….we have lived and volunteered in Sooke for 15 yrs.
and can’t help but comment on that ‘still parochial feeling’. This town is not just for the pioneers but for the ‘new blood’ setting down roots here. .

Sending this to my daughter, Greer, President of Parents for French in B.C. and Yukon. She is in Halifax attending a conference meeting with all of the Provincial Education Ministers and her counterparts on working through these solutions.

I find that I earn my money in Victoria, spend it in Langford and live in Sooke.

Sooke gets so little of my disposable income because there is still too much of a “small town” mentality.

No one wants to kick out the “vibe” of our adorable town, but I want to find gainful employment IN Sooke. I want to earn, spend and live in Sooke.

Prices in Sooke often have the “small village tax” and increased price point as a result of the “extra long transport”.
The exceptions to this are the chain businesses that have price matching.

The Little Old Biddy Committee needs to take the bench on this one. We can bring new business AND have a common look and feel.

The Bedroom Community would like to stop clogging up the ONLY route out of here every morning/night.

We need a business park in Sooke!

Of course I only speak for myself. 🙂

I believe there is a resolve and a win,win situation where we can recycle , reuse and create energy and provide food. We need to sit down , talk and research amazing opportunities out there. There is a résolve without destroying neighborhoods and land.

Good points and very good letter but would have liked more specifics on which candidates said this and which candidates you are getting behind. No cloak and dagger just speak up. Thanks L.

Good job Marilyn. Too bad you didn’t run for council!

Great question. I was disappointed too at the response in light of so many dire warnings from a consortium of global scientists as recently as this week.. Of course we can’t get rid of fossil fuels entirely…but in small steps a community can offer alternatives and incentives to promote alt energy or reduce emissions municipally. Business can convert to electric vehicles, you can install solar panels on lampposts, bus stops and signs, use bio fuels, promote green and Leeds standard building, plant more trees, reduce consumption, explore and promote wave and wind energy, offer tax breaks to green developers, create a solar street of affordable small homes… or we can continue the way we are and just contribute further to the problem. Just because we live in a rural community doesn’t mean we have our heads in the sand. We call on those that wish to lead us to stay informed, be part of the solution, and model behaviour and ideas based on science, not ignorance or fear.

Excellent question. Looking forward to reading more responses.

Really! How does installing solar panels on the District office building offset fossil fuel consumption. Electricity in BC is over 90%hydro which is a clean renewable resource. So do we replace a renewable with another renewable just so we can point and say look at those nice solar panels… we must be a green community now. Solar panels or wind power in BC is a waste of money but they do provide that billboard green statement. We can all work toward lessing fossil fuel dependency but certanitly not through the building of solar or wind in Sooke on the taxpayers dollar.

sooke disposal should have had been resolved. it is a priority service in sooke that has not been dealed with properly. an sooke mayor is not doing the job as sooke has doubled over time an it well continue to grow.so the services needs to be there .maybe we should have people in sooke who pay taxes decide an not have our council that take forever an have cost go through the roof .stew young would have just got it done yesterday .

So this is the old Milne landing farm that Sooke Disposal bought knowing that it was a farm. Actually I did sign the sheet along with many others but it wasn’t a petition and it said nothing of using the farm as a garbage dump. It was about the Butler property that Sooke Disposal was using but was asked to leave because of contamination issues.
The excavator on the property was observed actually driving in the creek at the back of the property where it was illegally filling in the creek and the wetlands. As for leaving the property in better shape, It was clear cut and all trees removed.
if you are looking for support you won’t get it. Dozens of worried neighbours contacted Council when you tried to rezone it.
You are right that there is another garbage station close to your property. When brought to Councillor Haldane’s attention that they didn’t meet proper standards and were dumping leeching garbage next to Baker Creek he assured us that an environmental study was done. The agency is in Nanaimo and said NO study was done on the property. They continue to leech toxic material into the salmon creek.

yes thanks for the question Steve and Mary.
Thought they would have an answer ready for that question.
We keep hearing that candidates are just interested in more developement.
Would like to see some solar panels on the District office.

Looking forward to hearing more (hopefully we’ll thought out) replies

Wow I have the same questions for all the candidates too! Thanks to you all for creating HOWL. (It was mentioned several times by candidates last night at the All Candidates forum!). Yours is a perfect age for considering consequences…for caring about wild species, wild spaces, and wild developers that put profit before the environment and wildlife. Your actions are admirable! As the election is almost upon us, these are questions that every adult in Sooke should be asking! Curious what candidates will reply! Please continue to encourage your parents, teachers and families to VOTE! Thanks kids for caring.

What I do NOT understand is why gas (petroleum at the pump) prices jumped so dramatically in one day. The gas leak and fire was in a NATURAL GAS pipeline owned by Terasen. Why does this affect petroleum unless, as usual, BIG OIL COMPANIES just love to gouge us at the pump. Time to switch to an electric car! Past time to switch to an electric car! Nissan, please, please make your fantastic LEAF ELECTRIC available in here in Canada with liquid (glycol) cooled battery. Affordable electric with sufficient range for a cross country trip!

A picture speaks a thousand words and I find the photo at the top rather interesting.

but every year the fly fishermen come to the Sooke river with their hip waders and stomp through the spawning grounds sending the eggs flying off. They also catch and release salmon trying to spawn. They kill more than they release.

I was at the Transition Town event for the candidates running for mayor. I hope since they were asked similar questions, they have more substantial answers. DeMamiel Creek certainly is a wild life corridor and the need for and value of wildlife corridors is recognized on paper but “for real”, not so much. People, who have proven to be very adaptable, always seem to come before wildlife when the bulldozers arrive. And if wildlife proves adaptable and sets up in someone’s backyard, the animal is the one who takes the bullet. Thank you for speaking for your age group and I hope we all get “real” action as well as words.

Hi unfortunately I will be in Vancouver tonight and will miss this event, are you aware if it is being recorded or filmed? Thanks

Go Chloe and Finn!
For real.

#anyonebutkasper
Why did Kasper go talk privately with Driver and not speak publicly?
Public hearing et al. Transparent et al