CENTRAL SAANICH — The Residents and Ratepayers of Central Saanich Society is hosting an all candidates meeting this weekend for the upcoming municipal election.
The meeting, which will take place Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Brentwood Bay Community Hall (corner of Wallace Drive and West Saanich Road), will run for two hours, from 7 to 9 p.m.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll have a good turn-out of candidates,” said Ian Cameron, RRoCSS president.
Cameron said that the meeting will take a bit of a different format than a standard all candidates meeting.
“I get annoyed at these meetings when someone asks one candidate a question and every other candidate comments on it, whether it pertained to them or not,” Cameron said.
“So we will be asking for written questions, addressed to one, two or three specific candidates, or to all of them.
“We will separate the questions so each candidate answers about the same number of questions. If the questioner wants to provide a brief preamble to the question, he or she will note that on the question paper, and will be allowed a very brief preamble,” Cameron explained.
He added that questioners will have to identify themselves by raising a hand, to prevent one person from asking a dozen questions.
People can bring the questions with them, he continued, already written or typed, or write them there.
“Members of the audience will not be allowed to make speeches disguised as questions,” Cameron said.
Time will be allotted after the meeting for the public to ask candidates questions one on one.
— News staff with files from RRoCSS
