Moving the election date up a month was probably a good idea because I don’t know about you, but it seems like the campaign has been going on long enough.
Candidates have been stomping the hustings pretty hard since Labour Day and here are some ups and downs from the campaign trail.
Campaign Signs
You wouldn’t know it by driving around town, but last term council passed a bylaw limiting the size and location of campaign signs. I haven’t gone around to see who is adhering to the bylaw and who is, perhaps inadvertently, breaking the rules. For me, it’s not an issue.
It’s six weeks every four years … let them have their signs.
But there are a couple of candidates who I know aren’t breaking the rules. Council candidate Viv Fox and school board candidate Stephanie Mikalishen-Deol have deliberately decided not to clog up the streets with signs.
Fox has decided to donate money that she would have spent on signs to the SPCA.
Sweetest Ride
Not exactly a campaign event, but Lyn Hall and Garth Frizzell had a ride in a Tesla on their way to the electric car display at the Farmer’s Market on the weekend. However, mayoral candidate Willy Enns showed up at the Farmer’s Market, and the one forum he attended, riding a Segway.
The Tesla is a definitely a sweeter ride.
Escaping History, or not
Council candidate Cameron Stolz has had to repeatedly answer questions about when he was on council last time and got in trouble because he hadn’t paid his city taxes for three years.
“I had some very difficult challenges there at the time,” he said at this week’s forum. “I was having a hard time with where the business was at. I made, what I thought was the ethical choice, and paid my staff first, and then I paid my suppliers so I could keep my business open and staff employed … In retrospect, I should have eaten a little more humble pie and reached out to friends and family and found a better solution for that.”
He was sincere and said he has apologized many times. But he also joked that Mayor Lyn Hall came down to watch him pay his taxes this year. Hall responded that he was on his way to announce he was seeking a second term as mayor.
So … city taxes are due at the end of June. Hall announced he was seeking re-election September 6. Hmmm?
Youth Vote
Council candidates Kyle Sampson and Cori Ramsay are definitely campaigning on their youth. Both are Millenials and Ramsay hit the nail on the head at a recent forum, with some humour thrown in.
“I think it’s really important to ask what council is going to look like 12 years from now, as these young guys start to retire,” she said, referring, of course, to fellow council candidates. “It’s really important that we get young people in there now because in 12 years from now do we really want a council of Millenials running our city?”
SOGI Screamfest
School trustee candidate Trent Derrick got yelled at during the Candi-dating session at the library last week. A woman yelled at him that he was going to Hell because he supported the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity curriculum.
It’s a tough issue for candidates because it’s a lightning rod for some people, however, it is provincially mandated so it’s not like they can get rid of it.
For the record, when we asked most of the school district candidates voiced their support for SOGI, except one:
“Parents have the right to choose and (have) the primary responsibility for their child’s sexual education,” said Allan Kranz.
Get out and vote.
Voting day is tomorrow, make sure you get out and vote.
