Following Saturday’s election, Victoria has a trio of new faces on council: Sarah Potts, Sharmarke Dubowe and Laurel Collins.
“This is quite progressive, a younger council and a lot of new faces and overall one I think that’s going to emphasize social justice issues,” said political scientist Michael Prince.
The newcomers ran on a platform focusing on environmental sustainability and affordable housing.
“We talked to a ton of renters, a ton of seniors on fixed incomes, families who are feeling pushed out of our city,” said Collins.
Collins is a University of Victoria instructor on social inequality and social justice and says something on the “to do” list is define what’s affordable.
“Making sure that we’re taking that out of the hands of developers, that the city council is actually defining affordability according to the CMHC’s definition, which is that no one should be spending more than 30 per cent of their income on their housing,” said Collins.
Long-term councillor Geoff Young is feeling like the odd man out, saying he is in a minority. He points out that not all issues are about leaning left or right.
“What are we going to do with the Crystal Pool? I don’t think there’s a politics to that. It’s really a question of where it can go. Do we have the money? Things like that,” said Young.
While some alignments appear clear, Prince says it’s not necessarily going to be a “fractious council.”
The chosen council is tasked with serving together, for those who are with them and against.
