There are 12 would-be new West Vancouver council members vying for your vote in this Saturday’s byelection. There’s a deep field of candidates and frankly there are few poor choices here (although some appear to be in a bit over their heads). They represent an array of skills and backgrounds that will lend themselves to council – among them are business, science, finance, law, design and municipal planning.
Through four days of advanced voting, 937 ballots have been cast out of roughly 31,000 potential. As byelections go, that’s not bad and with so many candidates running, we expect this will be a close race, which means every ballot counts.
The best part is, it’s not too late for you to get informed about who deserves your valuable X. We’ve compiled profiles on all of the candidates and published them online at nsnews.com/west-van-votes.
With a ballot this size, there’s a fair bit of overlap among the candidates’ policies on things like monster houses, tree cutting, growth and foreign ownership. It’s possible you may want to see these folks in action before making your decision. The best way to do that is to show up for an all-candidates meeting, the last of which is scheduled for tonight at 7 p.m. at the Kay Meek Centre.
And remember, as the fiasco down south recently taught us, it’s not the polls or the media or the pundits who decide who gets elected. It’s the people who put down the remote and find their way into a polling booth. The polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Hollyburn, Irwin Park, Rockridge and Westcot schools, Gleneagles Community Centre and West Van’s seniors activity centre.
Real opportunities to bring about change are rare. Don’t blow your chance. Get out and exercise that awesome power.
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