To everyone’s surprise, development and the OCP were not the main topics of discussion at last Thursday’s all-candidate forum in Qualicum Beach, hosted by the Qualicum Beach Chamber of Commerce and The NEWS.
Instead, the town’s 11 candidates were asked questions about youth support and retention, climate change, end-of-life services and motorcycle noise. Unlike the Nov. 4 forum, all questions from the 450-person audience were written on paper and randomly selected by moderator Phil Spencer. From the grumbling and steady thinning of the crowd, one could tell that many had hoped different topics would be up for discussion.
One topic that did draw everyone’s attention was council cohesiveness. Directed to Denyse Widdifield, Mary Brouilette, Bill Luchtmeijer and Dave Willie, Spencer allowed everyone to respond.
“I really believe that a council is a team … our job is to work together and to listen to dialogue and treat each other with respect,” said mayoral candidate Widdifield. “Would I be willing to work with four other members of council? If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t put my name forward, and I wouldn’t be running for mayor. Of course, I will treat anybody that is on council with respect.”
Brouilette (council candidate) answered next: “We all want to work together. It’s important that we work as a team, but that team needs four councillors and a mayor. So, if somebody doesn’t want to work with you, I’m really not quite sure how you’d make them talk to you. I’m really not quite sure how you’d make them take a leadership role. We had a rough first year, but the last year, because of some changing attitudes, we have worked very well together and I think with Denyse as our mayor, I think we’ll even be stronger.”
Luchtmeijer (council) said: “Council, through legislation, is one voice and that voice is made up of a majority vote amongst council. For anyone to sit back as a member of council and not support the majority, they’re not doing the job they were elected to do on behalf of the community. So, I think it’s really important. It’s what drives us to get something done for the community. We are one voice; five people, but one voice.”
Willie (council) said: “What’s important is that you… get good staff reports, you get good information and you have an open mind. I think in the past year we managed to pull it together; we started to listen. I think though we realized after the first year that we weren’t the only problem. We had some serious issues in the town administration to deal with. We dealt with them; it took some time. We made some changes, and I think now we put in place the best CAO in B.C. … what he brings to the table is good communication skills, and that was missing.”
Mayor Teunis Westbroek was the first to respond when Spencer opened up the question. “One of the things that I’ve learned over the years… is that you have to listen, make sure everybody is treated with respect,” he said. “I think a lot of the efficiency and effectiveness of a meeting and the tone of the meeting depends on the chair. I think I’ve often removed myself from the debate enough to allow councillors or members of the public to speak, and then combine and summarize what would be a reasonable resolution to move forward with. So, a lot of it depends on the skill of the chair and I’ve been chairing for about 15 years all together. I think that an important facet I can offer to you is experience.”
Barry Avis (council) said: “I’m not sure if over the last three years if it’s really been the issue of personalities that are working together. From what I observed, it’s been more the issues.” Avis then gave an example of council passing a motion five minutes after a meeting in which 60 members of the public spoke on an issue. “I said to myself, ‘At least have the courtesy to wait to the next day because if you’d already decided you’re going to pass it, what was the point of all those 60 people?’ I think that provided a heavy frustration around mayor Westbroek and councillor Tanner. I think it’s more an issue item.”
Dolores Fraser (council) said: “I think with the last council, they got a very bad start. I think when people elect a mayor and council, they assume the mayor will be the spokesperson of the town. So, to take that away at the start was confrontational, unexpected and, I thought, disrespectful, and I would not do such a thing.”
When nobody else offered a response, Brouilette asked for an opportunity to respond to Fraser. “When we first started, when we were first elected three years ago, we met with the mayor. We discussed why we were looking for a change in the representation at the RDN. We were not slighting him. He had been doing it for 15 years. It was going on in other communities. We wanted another voice. And we didn’t get another voice. The mayor was perfectly aware of that prior to that evening. I have signed documentation stating that. So, for someone from outside that doesn’t live in town (referring to Fraser), has not been to council meetings, etc…” At this point, some in the gallery made disapproving sounds and others clapped. Once the noise subsided, Brouilette finished her statement, saying “For somebody outside, it is unwise to make judgements.”
Avis responded: “What really concerned me was at the very first meeting of this current council, the mayor was removed from the regional district board and a new person who had no experience at all was chosen. And I thought, ‘Well, that’s kind of disrespectful.’ The second meeting: two of the main committees within the town were cancelled (parks and recreation, and environment and sustainability). And I thought, ‘Well now that cuts off the mayor, it cuts off the residents. Where are we going with this?’ It really concerned me.”
Luchtmeijer then spoke again: “I think it’s pretty important for the people in the gallery here to do a little bit of research. It won’t take many digs through council minutes to realize what Mr. Avis said is not correct. I think that it’s very easy to throw things out there. We’re not here to battle. We’re here to create and elect a council that’s going to be focused on the future and the best interests of Qualicum Beach, not to discuss or throw out facts that can’t be substantiated.”
Neil Horner (council) got the last response: “I think that has to do a lot with what you people (residents) decide to do at the ballot box. I think it’s important that you choose a team, not a faction, but a team, that will work together for the best interests of Qualicum Beach.”
Len Mustard, Diana La Monte and Anne Skipsey did not enter this conversation.
