Three of five candidates vying for a seat in the City of Port Alberni’s council by-election faced the public for the first time on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at an all-candidates’ meeting. The public will elect one candidate to fill a seat on council left empty when Coun. John Douglas died in July.
Richard Huneault, Debra Hamilton and Brennan Wauters were given the opportunity to introduce themselves and answer questions raised by the public.
Shinakoh Couture and Tom Verbrugge did not attend the meeting. Both of them had been informed of the meeting and were unable to attend, according to chamber CEO Jolleen Dick.
Candidates were given two minutes to introduce themselves at the beginning of the meeting, then moderator David Wiwchar from 93.3 PEAK FM began asking them questions that had been sent to the chamber of commerce prior to the meeting. Candidates faced more than three dozen questions and did not get through all of them in the two hours allotted for the meeting.
Roughly 60 people packed the Cathedral Grove Room at the RimRock Casino for the meeting, which was not live-streamed. Several current city councillors were on hand to listen to the candidates.
Questions ranged from how potential candidates would address public safety, homelessness and the toxic drug crisis to ways to make the city more liveable, how would they balance the city’s budget, what is their position on arts and culture in the community, addressing equity with electoral area residents, to ensuring how First Nations are meaningfully included in local climate action plans to how they feel they will handle the work load of being a city councillor.
The first question asked of candidates was “How will you improve community safety, address homelessness and support mental health and addiction services in Port Alberni?”
“These are big city problems we have and I’m at those tables (of discussion),” Hamilton said. “There is more than one complicated issue in this question.”
Huneault said there are multiple issues involved in the question and “different people fall into different categories.” He said people deserve to be “safe, warm, fed” and the community needs to take a respectful approach. “If we tackle things from multiple angles…we can fix these problems together.”
Wauters said he is in favour of harm reduction, and said the city should do what it can to intervene and eliminate the toxic drug supply. He said the opioid crisis must be approached as a health issue as well as an economic issue.
When asked about balancing the city’s budget, Huneault said maintaining infrastructure and approaching the budget with creative thinking are both important. Wauters said the city needs to advocate for more provincial and federal funding to help take the load off.
“I’m a fiscal conservative, not a social conservative,” he said. “Fiscal responsibility is a priority.”
Hamilton said the city is facing some difficult decisions in the coming years and that she would seek “clarity” from the community on what the public’s priorities are. “My priority would be the provision and maintenance of quality services” that focus on inclusivity.
All three candidates agreed that in response to a question about making the city more liveable for youth, council needs to ask the youth themselves.
Wauters called for a task force to help attract youth. Huneault said the city needs to give a reason for youth to come back once they have gone away for their education. He said affordable housing for youth is a big issue.
Hamilton, who has had a career in youth services for the past 26 years, said consulting youth is the No. 1 priority, and that organizations, service providers and small businesses understand programs available to youth. She said she would like to see more opportunities for higher learning in Port Alberni as well.
Each candidate was asked for their top two priorities for the city: Wauters said environmental stewardship and economic development; Hamilton said quality services and creating a liveable community; Huneault said the healthcare system and attracting medical professionals to the area, and diversifying the city’s economy.
General voting day is Dec. 14, 2024.
