Saanich mayoral candidates face off on municipality's top issues ahead of Saturday election

Affordable housing, road safety and the possibility of amalgamating with the City of Victoria are all top of mind for voters in Saanich as the municipal election on Oct. 15 approaches.

Running for mayor of Vancouver Island's most populous municipality are incumbent Fred Haynes and former district councillor Dean Murdock.

They shared their thoughts about the big election issues with On The Island host Gregor Craigie. 

Affordable housing

An affordable housing crisis has plagued the province, as available stock remains low and inflation continues to rise. 

"I don't think that this housing crisis caught us by surprise," Murdock said. "It's certainly been building."

He said people are leaving town for more affordable cities like Winnipeg and Edmonton, leaving job vacancies in the community.

If elected, his platform promises more purpose-built rentals, co-op and non-market affordable housing, housing for students, seniors and people with disabilities, and zoning for attached-family homes. 

Haynes said that during his time as mayor, the district has reorganized its planning department in order to implement its housing strategy. 

"Coming out of COVID, we haven't had the opportunity to do as much housing as we wished. In part, that's because of the market, the labour force, the supply lines have been delayed. But we have approved 2,780 units of housing, a good portion of which includes significant affordability."

His platform promises to fast-track affordable housing by reducing building approval timelines, cutting costs and increasing transparency around applications, while taking into consideration existing neighbourhoods.

Road safety

Saanich has seen several, in some cases fatal, accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists in recent years. 

In response, Haynes and council brought in safer infrastructure, such as street lights, delineators and signage at potentially dangerous intersections — something both candidates agree with. Haynes's website says his council has done nine "quick builds" to protect pedestrians.

"You can go to every school in Saanich and see the bollards, the road markings," Haynes said.

Murdock says he wants to see more initiative put into making intersections safer rather than waiting for someone to get hurt.

"We should not have to wait for a tragedy to move forward on creating a safer walking environment to travelling environment for people getting around," Murdock said. 

"We have ICBC data, for example, that shows us where we've had the largest number of accidents, where there's the greatest number of near misses. You can utilize that data to create a much safer environment."

Haynes said district staff are looking into certain intersections where the accidents happen. His platform promises speed reduction, traffic calming and infrastructure to support pedestrians and cyclists. 

Amalgamation

The Greater Victoria area is home to 13 municipalities, and the possibility of amalgamation has been a conversation in the region for years.

Earlier this year, Saanich, with a population of about 117,000, and Victoria, home to about 92,000 people, voted in favour of creating a citizens' assembly to study the process of amalgamation. 

There was interest in the assembly in years prior, Haynes said, but the pandemic put a pause on any in-person meetings. 

Murdock said it's time to ramp up the process, and in the meantime, look at ways municipalities can work together to offer services to residents throughout the region.