Your guide to Sooke's all-candidate meeting

This all-candidates meeting was hosted in person by the Sooke Chamber of Commerce, Edward Milne Community School Society, and Sooke Multi-Belief Initiative. Most of the meeting focused on the mayoral candidates, with pre-selected questions and questions from the audience. One mayoral candidate, John Knops, was not in attendance.

Candidates for council were offered an opportunity to make a statement, but were not asked questions. In-person attendees had a chance to talk with candidates in person, but that segment was not recorded.

Mayoral candidate opening statements

Mick Rhodes | Maja Tait 

Sooke has been growing rapidly for the past decade. What would you do to ensure that the pace of development does not threaten the quality of life in our community and that local infrastructure is adequately planned and available to meet this growth? Mick Rhodes | Maja Tait

How would you make Sooke a more welcoming community for people with disabilities and individuals who are homeless? Maja Tait | Mick Rhodes

What would you do to create sufficient green space, including parks, trails, and waterfront access to meet our current and future demand for such space, and would you do more to ensure Sooke is actively engaged in climate action planning? Mick Rhodes | Maja Tait

What is your vision for Sooke in the year 2030? Maja Tait | Mick Rhodes

Closing statements

Maja Tait | Mick Rhodes

Audience questions for the mayors

With the OCP in the situation it's in now, where will we be headed with the OCP after this next election? Mick Rhodes | Maja Tait

The pace of change going on here seems excessive, we have development that is going on that seems unchecked, and we don't have the infrastructure to manage it. We have one road going from Sooke to Langford, and if that road is closed, as we found out last year in November, what are we doing to manage that balance between growth and maintaining the infrastructure that we need? Mick Rhodes | Maja Tait

What would you two would do for the LGBTQ community? Maja Tait | Mick Rhodes

Councillor statements

Steve Anderson | Rob Anderson | Lorien Arnold | Jeff Bateman | Al Beddows | Susan Belford | Karine Bordua | Herb Haldane | Robin Holm | Dana Lajaneusse | Megan McMath | Sean Millard | Adam Noseworthy | Trevor Paul | Kevin Pearson | Maria Powers | Anna Russell | Tony Saint-Pierre | Jeff Stewart | Stephanie Welters

Council candidate Britt Santowski recused herself from the event to prevent any appearance of conflict, since she’s the executive director of the Sooke Chamber of Commerce who co-hosted the event.