A total of 32,538 people across Saanich came out to elect their new mayor, councillors, and voice their opinion on a referendum question.
Fred Haynes, who is serving his first term on the Saanich Council, has been elected mayor of Saanich with a 47.1% majority.
“I think the campaign managed to connect with the residents of Saanich and captured what their interests were,” Haynes told Victoria Buzz as the results rolled in.
“Four years of experience on council has shown me how as a municipality, we can work together to expect more from ourselves, from the region, that we can expect more from the province.”
During the campaign, Haynes clashed with incumbent candidate Richard Atwell over allegations from Haynes regarding Atwell’s perceived bias in favour of the Victoria and Saanich municipal amalgamation.
Though Atwell denied these claims and responded with a cease-and-desist letter to his opponent, Haynes did not back down.
Haynes is passionate about creating a Mayor’s Standing Committee to address the housing crisis, in addition to promoting more environmentally sustainable transit options and reducing commuter traffic.
Councillors
Eight city councillors have also been elected to represent the community of over 110,000 people:
- Susan Brice (incumbent) (15,981 votes)
- Judy Brownoff (incumbent) (13,549 votes)
- Nathalie Chambers (13,080 votes)
- Zac de Vries (13,631 votes)
- Karen Harper (incumbent) (11,713)
- Rebecca Mersereau (18,416 votes)
- Colin Plant (incumbent) (17,749 votes)
- Ned Taylor (16,047 votes)
Harper, Brownoff, Brice, and Plant will be returning returning to the council for another term.
Finally, the referendum question—which asked community members if they were in favour of creating a $250,000 Citizens Assembly to access the costs, benefits, and disadvantages of an amalgamation between the municipalities of Victoria and Saanich—passed. There were 16,852 votes in favor of the referendum, and 13,274 against.
A total of 32,538 voters cast their ballots in Saanich, out of an estimated 85,004 eligible voters.
