Vancouver Island candidates begin campaigning for upcoming federal election
At 5pm on December 1, 1956 CHEK-TV, B.C.’s first privately owned television station and affiliate of the CBC network, hit the airwaves. Over the next six decades, the station’s identity, logo design and network affiliations changed numerous times, until in September of 2009, CHEK became North America’s first and only employee-owned television station.
In the last 60-years the evolution of CHEK has come full circle. Live television of the past gave way to film, videotape and satellite feeds, only to find its way back to the energy and spontaneity of ‘live’ news broadcasts.Green Party candidates begin ‘crucial’ election campaign
Saanich Gulf-Islands candidates mostly sidestep question on Amazon’s arrival in Sidney
NDP’s Sabine Singh, and to lesser degree Green incumbent Elizabeth May, critical of online giant
Federal candidates running in Saanich-Gulf Islands mostly dodged a question about the arrival of Amazon during a virtual forum Monday afternoon.
Incumbent Elizabeth May of the Green Party, Conservative David Busch, New Democrat Sabina Singh and Liberal Sherri Moore-Arbour zoomed off against each on the MicCHEK podcast hosted by Joe Perkins and Rob Shaw on Monday afternoon. Also running in the riding but not present was David Hilderman of the People’s Party of Canada.
The candidates answered questions about the environment, the state of the local ferry system and housing among other subjects. Midway through the forum moderator Perkins asked candidates whether they are glad Amazon is arriving in Sidney, as part of a question about the town’s future.
“Are you pro-business, pro-growth or do you think we need slow things down and conserve that quaintness that is Sidney-by-the-Sea?” he asked.
RELATED: MP Elizabeth May says public has right to know identity of Sidney warehouse operator
Arguably the most definitive answer came from Singh. Canada will not be able to save its environment without addressing poverty, she said.
“And Amazon is a huge part of that,” Singh said, following up her earlier comment that companies like Amazon have made record profits during the COVID-19 pandemic. “And we haven’t been using them for communities.”
Moore-Arbour did not directly take a position on Amazon’s arrival, but warned against the effects of large developments. She called for “smart development” as a way to balance industrial-commercial projects with Sidney’s quaintness, “so they are not necessarily completely at odds.”
Busch also dodged the question, speaking in general terms about development.
“This goes back to affordability and one of the things that we need to do is increase the density,” he said. “But it’s important that the federal government work in partnership with the local community, whether it’s North Saanich, whether it’s Sidney. We have to listen to them and trust in their Official Community Plan (and) support them with responsible development as the local community council deems best, and not for the federal government to lecture or to trounce upon the wishes of the local council.”
RELATED: Neighbours stunned by massive warehouse proposed near Victoria airport
RELATED: 23-metre tall warehouse pitched for airport lot next to Sidney neighbourhood
The building which Amazon will lease from York Realty lies within Sidney’s municipal boundaries, but stands on land under the authority of the Victoria Airport Authority. The Town of Sidney has no say in the approval process of the building, nor the tenant.
York Realty has made what it called significant alterations to the building following input from the community, including 11 recommendations from the municipality.
Meanwhile, Busch’s answer offered an opening for May.
“I have to start by saying that this is overwhelmingly not a federal government or Member of Parliament issue, except that I really love Sidney-by-the-Sea,” she said. She drew attention to the region’s potential as a location for film projects to maintain the region’s character, and echoed concerns by Moore-Arbour about increased congestion.
Perkins pressed May on the original query. “So at the end of the question though, Elizabeth, you are against some of the growth we have been seeing then?” he asked.
May reiterated her belief they are municipal and provincial issues, adding over cross talk, “I’m not a fan of Amazon.”
“But you can have an opinion, you can have some influence?” replied Perkins.
“Well, I can say on this issue, municipal development is a municipal decision,” May said. While Sidney had no authority over the development, she criticized the decision-making process around the development.
“The Victoria Airport Authority is federal, but its decision-making is already cast in stone by the nature of their right to operate. I think harbour and airport authorities are far too autonomous. I’d like more political accountability right across the board.”
When asked about feedback she has received on Sidney’s changing face, May said it has appeared split. “I can’t say if it’s a majority either way. What we want is affordable housing and what is coming to Sidney for the most part does not create a price point where people can afford to buy a condo in one of the buildings that are going up.”
The Amazon announcement has the support of the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith has called the Amazon development a suitable development for the location.
A podcast of the forum will be available Tuesday morning with a video version airing Sept. 8.
RELATED: Sidney mayor calls Amazon warehouse a ‘suitable development’ for its location
Do you have a story tip? Email: vnc.editorial@blackpress.ca.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
wolfgang.depner@peninsulanewsreview.com
Canada Election 2021Election 20Local all-candidates meeting set for Sept. 7
The Salt Spring Forum has organized a virtual all-candidates debate for the federal election in the Saanich-Gulf Islands riding.
The event will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. with the Zoom link available on the www.saltspringforum.com website closer to the date.
Forum manager Richard Steel said the organization has decided to allow only parties with sitting MPs in the House to participate. The candidates are incumbent Elizabeth May (Green), Sherri Moore-Arbour (Liberal), David Busch (Conservative) and Sabina Singh (NDP).
As of Aug. 24, other declared candidates are David Hilderman for the People’s Party of Canada and Dock Currie for the Communist Party of Canada.
Singh, Busch and May ran in the last election held in October of 2019, and May won the seat with 49.09 per cent of the popular vote.
Voting eligibility and methods, and poll location dates and details will be available at elections.ca. Advance poll locations, dates and times will also be on voting cards sent in the mail to all registered voters.
When parliament was dissolved, the Liberals had 155 seats, the Conservatives 119, the Bloc Quebecois 32, the NDP 24 and the Greens two. Five MPs were independents and one seat was vacant.
https://www.localpx.com/v/en/david-hilderman-ppc-candidate-saanich-gulf-islands.html
David Hilderman PPC Candidate Saanich Gulf Islands
Phone: (250) 507-9561
https://www.facebook.com/DavidHildermanPPC/photos/a.120112623689344/125268666507073/
- PPC- The only choice left for freedom.
10 Comments
David Raymond AmosGood LuckDavid Hilderman PPC Saanich-Gulf IslandsAuthorDavid Raymond Amos thanks! Rebel news is supposed to be interviewing me today.David Raymond AmosHave funSandra SummerVote Max B PPC, don't be a dummy and vote lib con or endee effing pee, unless you crap in your hands and live in a treeRichard WrightVote your conscience.Sandra SummerVote Max B PPC, don't be a dummy and vote lib con or endee effing pee, unless you crap in your hands and live in a treeMarina NelsonWhere can I pick up a sign for Pender Island? Will be in Victoria this Monday.Caroline RoyCan I pick up a sign as wellCaroline RoyFREEDOMKeith CampbellPPC!Dock Currie
(He/Him)TRU Law JD 2021; Currently seeking ArticlesSidney, British Columbia, CanadaI am a recent JD graduate from the Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law with an MA from the University of Western Ontario in Social Sciences. At TRU I won three Dean's Course Prizes, in Legal Perspectives, Rule of Law, and Jurisprudence, and I am currently looking for an Articling position in either the public or private sector, preferably somewhere on the West Coast - though for the right position I would move anywhere. I am a committed advocate for Social Justice and the progressive development of Law and Canadian society.
I like interesting legal problems and believe I am very well suited to working with them, I hope to find an Articling position which will exercise this skill and allow me to meaningfully contribute to legal practice.Experience
Dock Currie, a former NDP candidate in B.C. writes that the program of the Communist Party of Canada is the "the gold standard of contemporary socialism" and that this is why the Party is experiencing a growth in members, especially youngThursday, July 23, 2020
The Cowardice of Left Anti-Communism: A Reply to David Camfield
The attack on the Communist Party of Canada by David Camfield recently published in Passage doesn't merit a response, but rather necessitates one. That is to say, the arguments made in the piece aren't good ones, but left unresponded to they may mislead young radicals exactly in the manner that Camfield erroneously charges against the Communist Party of Canada. In the piece, which is itself a response to Kimball Cariou's exemplary article 'Canada Still Needsa Communist Party,' Camfield makes a number of charges. The most prominent of these charges is the least compelling, and is in large bold letters at the top of the page: "Since the 1950s, Canada's Communist Party has lacked the size, and degree of influence on a mass scale, needed to be a genuine party." What is one even to do with this? What is this argument other than an incoherent tautology? The Communist Party of Canada has lacked size and influence, so therefore it ought not have size and influence? It hasn't been sizable or influential, so its growing size and influence ought to be checked? Nothing in the following paragraphs in any way turns this frustrated lament into an actual argument. But beneath the charge that the Communist Party of Canada cannot be a revolutionary force in Canadian politics lies a more insidious and bitter argument, that the Communist Party of Canada ought not be a revolutionary force in Canadian politics.
2 Comments
David Raymond AmosMethinks I should call David Camfield and this unamed dude for Atlantic Region tooN'esy Pas?Box 70, Grand Pré,Nova Scotia, B0P 1M0Phone: (902) 542-7981 -
No comments:
Post a Comment