Final Westshore all-candidates meeting takes place in Mill Bay

Sunday saw the last of the CRD provincial all-candidates debates culminating with the candidates in Juan de Fuca-Malahat. The debate was between the BC Greens’ David Evans, BC NDP candidate Dana Lajeunesse and the BC Conservatives’ Marina Sapozhnikov.

The Mill Bay event was hosted by the Otter Point and Shirley Residents Ratepayers Association (OPSRRA). Kerry Park Arena's McLean Room welcomed roughly 100 audience members, including Juan de Fuca Electoral Area director Al Wickheim and District of Sooke councillor Jeff Bateman.  

A new riding, with no incumbent candidates

Created newly for this election, JDF–Malahat combines the more westerly and rural parts of John Horgan's former riding Langford-Juan de Fuca with many of the southern parts of Sonia Furstenau's former Cowichan riding. Langford–JDF had been one of BC's most overcrowded ridings—meaning that each voter counted a little less than average. When the riding was split for 2024, Horgan's successor Ravi Parmar chose to run in the urban Langford spinoff.

For newcomer candidates, establishing a connection to place and district is an important way to win over voters. In legacy ridings or dynasty districts, where one party has dominated for a period of time, parties tend to push their leadership pedigree.

On the day of the debate, Parmar voiced his support for Lajeunesse over social media and invoked the legacy John Horgan, Rick Kaster, and Frank Mitchell—considered to be the backbone of the NDP in Esquimalt. “I want to continue in the direction that John [Horgan] set forth for us,” he said. 

Debate issues highlighted riding’s rural character

Different from some debate formats in which a moderator asks questions, audience members were also invited to the mic to put their questions directly to candidates.

Key topics of the day were familiar ones from other all candidates meetings in the CRD such as health care, the environment and housing. But questions around farmland, parks protection as well as water and sewer infrastructure were more particular to the district and the Westshore in general.

Juan de Fuca-Malahat is one of the largest electoral districts on Vancouver Island. The new boundaries go from the south to the central Island and include Port Renfrew, Sooke, East Sooke, Metchosin, Otter Point and Cobble Hill.

In this more rural district, land use and housing were in the spotlight.

Jump to a debate topic, or just continue reading below photo.

• Housing, farming & land use

  • Traffic & transit

• Biosolids management

• Healthcare

• Education / audience tension

• Where & when to vote

Housing needs and land use in a fast-growing region

Rapid growth in that region means decision-making at the ballot will focus on what priorities in this rural district will shape it for years to come. With that in mind it was unsurprising that land use, housing and transportation were in the spotlight.

NDP candidate Lajeunesse, who has lived in the district for decades, is hoping a balance can be found between development and the protection of existing park and farm land.

“Housing development should leave as light a footprint as possible on these lands we hold dear,” he said. And that extends to the additional infrastructure and water usage that are implicated in housing growth.

Evans, a business owner in Sooke for over 25 years, said he wants to see the district's farm lands protected by making it affordable to run as farm land rather than developing it—highlighting the interconnectedness between housing and food security.

“Land should be made available to people who actually want to farm it.” Evans has said previously to the Sooke News Mirror that he doesn’t think “balancing the need for shelter, which is a human right, and the desire to accumulate wealth is the job of elected representatives.”    

Evans promised to balance for-profit market and not-for-profit, community-led non-market housing to address the affordability crisis. The simple answer is the private sector can’t afford to build non-market housing, he said. The Greens have announced a $1.5 billion plan to build affordable homes and vacancy control, a form of rent control that limits how much a landlord can increase the rent when a tenant moves out.

For the Conservative’s Sapozhnikov, the district’s arable land represents not just food security, but economic opportunity. She indicated food production should be doubled across the province and said R&D in new agricultural technology “is necessary to address the changing climate.”

She connected that effort to the work of the CRD’s Food and Agricultural Strategy, which has a target: increasing land in food production by 5,000 hectares by 2038. 

All of the candidates agreed that traffic on Sooke Road and on the Malahat needs to be urgently addressed, citing improvements to Highway 14 as the focal point of any solution. With greenhouse gas emissions top of mind, Evans spoke to the need for an integrated transit system and more ride share programs on the south Island.

Biosolids management

Evans explained that mounting CRD biosolids currently being trucked from Hartland and dumped at its Nanaimo quarry is a time limited option. He explained the LaFarge processing plant in Richmond “can only take 2% of the biosolids at that lower mainland facility” and another solution needs to be found. 

Lajeunesse said that “dumping biosolids is not a good idea. It’s a last-ditch solution,” echoing comments CRD chair Colin Plant has made on the issue in the past. 

New options and old grievances around healthcare 

With respect to the future of healthcare in the district, Lajeunesse pointed to the planned construction of the Sooke Community Health Centre, announced by the NDP in May 2023. 

The new facility planned for 6671 Wadams Way will combine the community health centre (CHC) and an urgent- and primary-care centre (UPCC). Once open, the CHC/UPCC will consolidate local primary care services from West Coast Family Medical Clinic and other local community services into a single location. 

Sapozhnikov, a doctor who has served as a locum and family doctor in the area and who was a strong antagonist of the Covid-19 vaccine mandate expressed deep concern about the importance of maintaining democracy in Canada. “Democracy is worth every effort we make to keep it going.”

“As a physician, I have a deep understanding of the healthcare issues in this province and inability for either candidate from the NDP or Green to articulate a substantive plan to improve a healthcare system is a major concern,” Sapozhnikov told The Westshore following the debate. 

“The NDP plans to continue status quo and running woefully inefficient system without major reforms, and the Greens put forward a ‘feel good’ idea that basically repackages already insufficient resources without a strategic vision to plan ahead.”

SOGI comment from audience stokes controversy

The fluid format of the debate did create tension as well, specifically around the issue of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI). Conservative leader John Rustad has expressed his desire to eliminate the inclusivity program from BC schools. The program, designed to address discrimination and bullying and to create a supportive environment for LGBTQ students was endorsed by the provincial government in 2016.  

When one parent got up to say he believed his daughters were receiving inappropriate and harmful information at school about sexuality, another audience member, Ashe Russell, a member of the 2SLGBTQ community, said they felt the energy in the room immediately shift.

“Ninety per cent of that room was supporting this man, and his misinformation,” Russel told The Westshore. SOGI provides tools and information for educators to access when they feel students may need extra care around these matters.

“It’s important to give youth these tools, not only so they don’t feel so isolated and alone—so they know what they are going through is normal,” Russel continued.

Russel said both Evans and Lajeunesse were “incredible up there” in the way they addressed what they perceived as hate in the room. 

Another attendee, Sooke resident Frederique Philip told The Westshore following the debate that “David is committed to putting people and the planet first. He is a force for change, a voice for the people, and a champion for our planet.” 

Where & when to vote

Advanced voting locations (Oct. 15 & 16) for the Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding will be open at Sooke Community Hall, Mill Bay Community Hall, Metchosin Community Hall and Shawnigan Lake Community Centre. 

Electoral offices also continue to be open daily for quick voting. Find a location here.

The last chance to vote is Election Day itself on Sat., Oct. 19.