'Development was on the ballot': Vancouver Island candidates unseat incumbent mayors
As Dean Murdock dismantled his campaign signs Monday, he reflected on the excitement of his narrow victory over incumbent mayor, Fred Haynes. Murdock was vaulted into the Saanich mayor's chair by a margin of 152 votes.
“It was a very exciting night. We were on pins and needles all night waiting for the results,” said Murdock.
His win was just one of several in the capital region that knocked off incumbents for mayor.
“It was the kind of night to make political pundits rethink their career choices,” said political scientist David Black, a professor at Royal Roads University.
Most surprising of all the defeats of incumbent mayors was Scott Goodmanson dethroning Stew Young in Langford. Young has been the leader of that community for nearly three decades.
“They’re in there and you have to respect that,” said Young on Monday, commenting on the surprising surge by Goodmanson as well as the slate of five new councillors.
“Thirty years is a long time to do what I’ve been doing,” he said.
“It’s been a great improvement from when I grew up in Langford, so they're getting handed a city that’s the number one city in British Columbia… I hope they don't screw it up,” he added with a laugh.
Elsewhere on the West Shore, Coun. Doug Kobayashi defeated one-term mayor Rob Martin in Colwood and Sid Tobias beat two-term mayor David Screech in View Royal.
Tobias says his victory was partly due to voters wanting more input into community development.
"View Royal is a town consisting of those neighbourhoods, and they want a greater say in what development looks like," he said Monday.
Black agrees that the pace and style of growth on the West Shore was a major factor in the election.
“Development was on the ballot, and the people said, 'slow it down,'” he said. “Really a call to recalibrate development, add social texture, add green spaces.”
In Victoria, there will be a whole new mayor and council although Marianne Alto, a four-term councillor, is a familiar face who is replacing Lisa Helps, who chose not to run again.
Elsewhere on Vancouver Island, Leonard Krog held on for a second term as mayor in Nanaimo, as did incumbent Bob Wells in Courtenay.
In Parksville, Doug O’Brien toppled incumbent Ed Mayne, and in Qualicum Beach, Teunis Westbroek unseated sitting mayor Brian Wiese.
As candidates clean up their campaign signs, victors are preparing to start work in November, when they'll be sworn in and voters will see whether they get the change they voted for.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Health minister 'deeply appreciative' of doctors but capital gains changes here to stay
Health Minister Mark Holland says while he is 'deeply appreciative' of the work doctors in Canada do, the federal government has no plans to scrap the proposed capital gains tax changes outlined in the latest budget, despite opposition from the Canadian Medical Association.
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
What Trudeau's podcast appearances say about the Liberals' next ballot box question
Trudeau recently appeared on four podcasts as he travels the country talking up the Liberals' latest budget, which he's pitching as a plan to inject more economic fairness into society for those under 40 — a cohort that has kept Trudeau in power since 2015 but is increasingly turning to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Passage of harsh anti-2SLGBTQ+ law in Iraq draws diplomatic backlash
Human rights groups and diplomats criticized a law that was quietly passed by the Iraqi parliament over the weekend that would impose heavy prison sentences on gay and transgender people.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
A munitions explosion at a Cambodian army base kills 20 soldiers, but its cause is unclear
Security was tight around a military base in southwestern Cambodia on Sunday, a day after a huge explosion there killed 20 soldiers, wounded others and damaged nearby houses.
California Disney characters are unionizing decades after Florida peers. Hollywood plays a role
California performers are organizing to be represented by a union now, more than four decades after their Florida counterparts did so.