It was the first major in-person gathering of candidates in this year’s Bowen municipal election on Sept. 27, as crowds trekked up the hill to Belterra Cohousing to hear from their potential new mayor and council.
Michelle Johnson moderated the event and asked a wide range of questions, along with taking questions from the audience. You can find a selection of answers to various questions below, along with closing statements from each candidate in attendance.
Alex Jurgensen (Council)
Tourism: "I agree that tourism properly managed can be good and is essential for the island. I also think it’s important to look at diversification of the industries we have here on Bowen. I don’t mean bringing in every industry like building factories, I don’t think any of us want that. I think it’s really important to kind of take a step back and say what else can we do to keep the island economy strong year-round. And also what can compliment tourism so that it can be properly managed, but also that our infrastructure can keep up with the number of tourists that we’re getting."
Closing remarks: "I really think that when we have diversity on council – and diversity can take many forms – when you have diversity on council or any committee it really does lead to diversity of good ideas, that can be put together to create something truly great. I would encourage all of you to give that a thought when heading out to the polls to vote. Let’s try to get that diversity on council where there’s a lot of wonderful, talented folks that can bring good ideas to build something great."
Sue Ellen Fast (Council/Islands Trust)
Suing Big Oil: "This is a role that municipalities can play in terms of putting pressure on other levels of government. They watch and see what’s happening… Anything that we can do makes sense. If we contribute a little bit of tax money toward something like this, it’s kind of advocacy, and we might actually get a little bit back from it. If not money – which I doubt actually – we could get climate action out of it, and reduction in carbon emissions and a cleaner, safer future."
Closing remarks: "I’m here for nature and community. I just adore living on Bowen, and I’ve had the pleasure of going to other islands as well. I think we’re part of the federation of Islands through the Islands Trust, and I look forward to building more bridges between Bowen and the Islands Trust. I think I’ve got a whole list of benefits… the Islands Trust policy statement is one of the projects the Islands Trust is involved in now. That’s a 20 year list of objectives for the Islands Trust area, how things shall be done. They’re environmental mostly. Those are under review right now, they’re updating them to include reconciliation and affordable housing, as well as climate action. That’s going to be an important thing, because that’s going to be like an umbrella over our Official Community Plan, which is sort of like our constitution. So there’s a bunch of places on there that I want to be able to work between Islands Trust and Bowen. And that’s why I’m looking for your support."
Judi Gedye (Council/Islands Trust)
Role of Government: "I think the role of government is leadership and decision making... I think what happens a lot on council now, and it’s the nature of the beast, a lot of it is reactive. I think we have a responsibility to be proactive… We need to figure out a way to deal with some future problems that we can predict are going to be landing on our shores. I want to figure out ways of doing things better and improving, and getting more people involved, and getting as much information out and as much information back so we can make solid decisions."
Closing remarks: "I’m really enjoying the whole process of running for office… I really do think that when we get together we can conjure up all sorts of good ideas. My imagination is going in terms of BC Ferries having that cheaper run at 9:20 at night, how that filled up and took pressure off others. How we can do a whole bunch of other things, it’s sparking all sorts of ideas. I think that the more ways we have of interacting and communicating with each other, and having ideas, whether it’s formal or informal, is going to be for our benefit. With the Islands Trust, all the talk about the climate crisis and how do we find solutions, the Trust can be strengthened and it can get back to working properly by its mandate, that can work as being an engine for some of that work, and that can be a resource for us. I think that this is a wonderful community, highly educated, everybody tries really hard, we trust each other, we’re willing to work through difficult problems, and this is a community that can do amazing things when we put our mind to it."
Richard Wiefelspuett (Council)
Suing Big Oil: "There’s always the big picture and the small picture. There’s always the picture about the global world, the harbour town of Vancouver, and what we can do individually. I think we can incentivize better environmental behaviour, we can provide park and ride to the ferry to drive home, all kinds of things. Big picture for me – Sue big oil? That’s just an example for me of how we could use it as a vehicle to build community with other municipalities and other towns… if we all stick together and say we want different treatment, we can build strength in numbers by working on the big picture in the Howe Sound and Greater Vancouver area."
Closing remarks: "I stand for protection, preservation and process… I love the Islands Trust, the protection and safety layers are unique. I think it supports a vision of this island federation that is really a treasure, not just for us but for the world. I put Bowen right into that, and I think we can share that treasure with the world. I think we need to do this in ways that are sustainable, in ways that we are in control of and that we agree with, as the sovereign municipality that we are… Preserve and protect the beautiful nature, grow within our means, and really make sure that our island lifestyle remains authentic… My team includes staff as well, and the people on Bowen Island, because only if we all work together can we achieve that… I’m looking forward to participating in creating that vision."
Craig Macdonald (Council)
Tourism: "Tourism is a problem. For the majority of Bowen Islanders tourism can be very tough, in the summer it’s bad. But it’s bad in a lot of different ways. To get on to the 8:30 am ferry now, you have to get there at 7:50... I don’t think anybody is really thrilled about camping in the park (proposed Cape Roger Curtis park). But car parking in the park? That’s ridiculous. That’s absolutely a no-go area. Greater Vancouver Regional District has to understand that we want to be a green island… It would be great to expand our tax base and bring another industry in. But we’re stuck with the housing we have: none. It’s difficult to get workers here, it’s difficult to have a business here when you can’t have workers over that are left at the ferry."
Closing remarks: "I think for any council to work it needs active involvement by people like you. When I lived in Vancouver I lived in co-op… the community there was very strong and very active. There is a lot of conversations, a lot of ideas were generated, the community centres there were active areas of people coming in. I’d like to see our new Community Centre, when it’s finished, become the same thing. I’d like to see people come in and tell us what you want, how you want it done, and we’ll do our best to do that. You’re vitally important to the equation here."
John Saunders (Council)
Role of Government: "Transparency obviously is the single biggest way to make you accountable. If everybody out there knows why that decision was made – why any decision was made – if that transparency is there, now you’re accountable for it. And everybody here would need to be able to stand up and say yeah we made that decision, here’s why we made it. And if the facts change and you get new information you need to move on from that decision and rehash and do it differently. That’s fine, but we need to be accountable. My experience is that accountability is one of the hardest things to find in politics or in business or in life generally."
Closing remarks: "This has been a tremendous opportunity to sit here and listen to some great questions and the answers that came back and forth from people that are ostensibly competing with each other. But you didn’t hear any competition. What we heard is agreement that yeah that’s a big issue, and here’s how I might approach it. Or oh I haven’t thought of that, let’s try that. We all agree on what the problems and concerns and issues are. The only thing facing us now is what are the priorities for those, and how are we going to address these. That’s not going to get answered tonight, but I think the important thing is that we do. We talk about vision a lot, we talk about goals, but what I heard is, we seem to have a lot of the same goals. We do have commonality in that, and I think that’s going to be a huge benefit moving forward for all of us."
Andrew Leonard (Mayor)
Tourism: "Traditional and conventional views of tourism have kind of been in a straight line relationship with economic development, the idea being that you get more tourists into the community, it’s going to bring more money into the community, which equals: everybody prospers. I disagree with that. In the conversations that I’ve been having with folks who are on the leading edge of tourism conversations, they begin to see these conventional views of tourism as extractive on local communities... Tourism isn’t just tourism and tourism doesn’t just plug into economic development. Tourism is a community issue, a recreation issue, a parks issue, a transportation issue, and a density issue."
Closing remarks: "The role of the mayor is to hold the perspectives of the council table. And I think you’ve heard tonight a lot of the complexity of those perspectives. And a lot of those perspectives and those complexities do not have answers. We’re going to be going into a council term where some of those answers have to be found, and then enacted in policy."
Maureen Nicholson (Mayor/ Islands Trust)
Tourism: "A conversation around essentially a tourism tax over and above the cost of the ferry has occurred. And it was not immediately ruled out of line. They do not do that on any other ferry route, so it would be unprecedented. But also BC Ferries is in pretty unprecedented times right now... The Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT) requires the operators of affected short-term rentals to agree to the implementation of that tax. And that was attempted when the short-term rental regulations were brought in, and it wasn’t successful at that point... What is on the books for the next council is a review of short-term rental regulations. And that could very well include – and I hope it will – a recommendation to again pursue the MRDT because it’s a way that doesn’t cost the municipality anything, it doesn’t cost the BNB operators anything, and it does get money into municipal coffers to help offset the cost of tourism impacts."
Closing remarks: "I’ve gone through about five different closing statements in my head and I can’t pick any one of them. So what I’m going to say is thank you for being here. Please vote wisely, this is a very important election coming up… Vote well, vote once."
John Turner (Mayor)
Tourism: "Bowen is a victim of its own success. People want to come here because it’s a cool place. You can’t un-ring the bell, people are going to come no matter what. So we just have to find a way to deal with it. One of the issues in the Cove is that we’re very ferry-centric, so people show up when the ferry arrives. If we can diversify that arrival – I like the idea of water taxis... We can talk about trying to stop tourism but it’s not going to happen, they’re going to come. Right now we’ve got about seven months to prepare for next summer, so it’s a good way to be proactive."
Closing remarks: "I just want to touch on the Islands Trust. We have a sailboat and have been to a lot of the (Islands Trust) islands, I think they’re all highly unique, and we have a lot more in common with them than we do with West Vancouver… The cost of it is an issue for a lot of people, but I see it like a monarchy. When the Queen was alive I think it was a no brainer (that people liked it), but now with King Charles, I still have a soft spot. We’ve got problems right now, but they’re not insurmountable. With good communication we’ll get through it."
Tim Wake (Council/Islands Trust)
Suing Big Oil: "Whistler tried that… and basically got clobbered both by big oil and by most of the community for a completely non-productive action. I think a much better action would be for us to declare ourselves the greenest Gulf Island, and then focus all our marketing on being a leader… If we just make this our absolute first goal: we are going to bring people here, we are going to teach them how to respect the environment and how to be green, we’re going to teach them about non-motorized and non-consumptive recreation."
Closing remarks: "We’ve heard a lot tonight about being green, protecting the environment, having lower impact. I think we’re probably doing a good job on that. I think there’s a lot more we can do, I think the whole notion of us actually being a leader, people actually coming to Bowen to learn more about what they can be doing in their own communities, I think that’s really worth pursuing. What I didn’t hear enough about is what we’re going to do to protect and preserve and ensure that we have a complete community. In order to do that, we need to be able to house people more affordably, especially young people and young families. And we need more people who are actually living and working on the island… I get it, we don’t want too much growth, we don’t want too much development. But we have to develop some solutions that are going to keep the balance of our community healthy and happy here."
Alison Morse (Council)
Tourism: "That’s one of the plans of the Community Economic Development Plan is to work on an updated tourism plan – what kind of tourist do we want to attract. Tourism Bowen is not at all trying to attract people to come during the summer, they’re trying to build ‘shoulder seasons’ so people will come in the winter when it’s a little quieter, and stay and spend money in the stores and buy the art. But it is a big part of the province’s whole economy - tourism. So it has to be properly managed, and we can’t just say ‘we’re here, you can’t come on the ferry.’ Which I know a lot of people would really like to do."
Closing remarks: "I look at our role of government as stewardship and looking after the assets that we’ve got. Bowen has three kinds of assets: built infrastructure, our natural capital, and the people. Housing and having people living and working here on the island is very important. And we have to do it all with fiscal responsibility in mind. You have to plan, you can’t do everything all at once. You need measured progress."
Robin Burger (Council)
Role of Government: "I’d make sure I work hard to provide the community with information, support what happens in governance, policy decision. A big thing for me is fiscal responsibility in terms of how we look to the future for our community and the next generation. I’m quite concerned about that. Those are the areas that I have experience with, policy development and community service to housing."
Closing remarks: "What I didn’t hear a lot about this evening is housing affordability, which is a big focus of why I’m running. For me and many communities in the Lower Mainland that’s a big topic, if not number one on just about everybody running for municipal government’s main topic and concern. Effective municipal decision making and community consultation processes are a key component to the next term of municipal office on Bowen. Without comprehensive plans on community engagement and input, much of our future municipal leadership decisions are at risk. In terms of municipal provision of housing, we need to be realistic on what would work based on community need, and community driven efforts. Inadequate housing supply on Bowen is an indication of what else is not going well within our community. Access to funding, construction costs, the current issues with the housing market in the broader community, creates big challenges for developing housing projects here. It’s a complex issue needing on-Bowen efforts, and there’s no simple answers. I’d like everybody to think of that when they’re voting."
Note: Gale Lyttle and Nicole Thomas Zyczynski, both running for council, were unable to attend.
