Big Change Comes with Big Expectations

Vancouver, like many communities in British Columbia, voted for change on October 17. In the local elections, Vancouver swept ABC out, North Saanich voted against party politics, and Langford, Saanich, Surrey and New Westminster all voted for a new direction.

In Vancouver, the first Green Party mayor in Canada was elected, with progressive (COPE, Green and One City) councillors taking all but one Councillor position.

In Surrey, Mayor Brenda Locke was defeated by previous Mayor Doug McCallum, whom she defeated last time, while Langford replaced the outgoing mayor with the one he had defeated last time as well. New Westminster elected a conservative slate that called themselves Progressives, and Saanich elected a slate called Save Our Saanich (SOS).

In North Saanich, I was elected along with 5 other 'independent' candidates for Council, along with an independent Mayor, defeating the North Saanich Strong slate, which included 3 incumbents and a former employee of the District; the previous Mayor received only 5% of the votes.

What all these community election results show is that the residents wanted change. But wholesale change usually comes with big expectations. Whether it is lower taxes, less development, reduced crime, or fewer bike lanes, change can take time. And while change is inevitable, it is not always what the voters expect.

I wish all the newly elected well. I hope they take time to learn, listen, and contemplate before making big changes. As one previous politician wisely said "you can appoint, but you can't disappoint".