Two prominent 麻豆社国产politicians are reflecting on their time in office before officially handing over the reins to a new council.
Outgoing Mayor Karen Elliott and long-serving Coun. Doug Race said that growth, housing and local employment are perhaps the next council’s most significant issues.
“Clearly, growth continues to put pressure on the community, although I think now we’re actually in a position where our policies are supporting our aspirations as a community,” said Elliott.
“Now, it’s about ensuring that we can grow local employment — an economy around a future-focused economy — and make sure that people don’t have to commute for work.”
She said protecting employment lands will be crucial to Squamish’s future.
Race noted that a net increase of about 100,000 people moved into B.C. last year, and some of them will be coming to Squamish.
“We’re going to get our share of that,” he said. “There’s just no question about that. And so you just have to be prepared for that. And you have to deal with it.”
He noted that the past term had a heavy focus on affordable housing. When the provincial government switched over to the NDP, there appeared to be more willingness from BC Housing to work with the municipality on meeting that goal with projects such as Under One Roof and the Buckley Spirit Creek project.
While the province’s involvement appears to have slowed down recently, Race said David Eby’s ascent to NDP leadership would hopefully allow that help to resume.
But while the two elected officials are keeping an eye on the town’s future, their departures from Municipal Hall allow them to reflect on their storied careers in politics.
Elliott’s path to the mayor’s chair
Elliott said she was first motivated to run for council after her neighbours persistently urged her to make a bid for office.
“They pestered me incessantly for a few months until I said, ‘Yes,’” she recalled with a laugh.
She said they were aware of her interest in addressing climate change and her experience working as a consultant with various public and private organizations.
Elliott said she never intended to be in elected office before that. She had been focused on her consulting practice since 2005, while also tending to the needs of her young family. However, her job gave her the flexibility to run for council, which she acknowledged is an opportunity many don’t have.
The next thing that motivated her to run for council was Squamish’s growing population. When she ran to be a councillor in 2014, things were starting to pick up, and she wanted to help shape how the town would navigate this significant turning point.
“We would do the Official Community Plan rewrite — I wanted to be involved in that,” said Elliott. “And I just wanted to be more proactive about addressing climate change and helping ensure my daughters had a better future ahead of them.”
With her time in office coming to a close, she said that perhaps one of the highlights of her time was working on increasing the amount of affordable housing in Squamish.
“We’ve got , we have the , we have and ,” said Elliott. “And then hundreds of new purpose-built rentals that are either built or on [their] way.”
With respect to the past election, she said she was glad the community was not swayed by a well-funded anonymous attack ad campaign.
“I have always known that my community was smarter than whatever misinformation that outside forces were trying to put into the community,” said Elliott.
She said the most troubling thing about the attacks from 麻豆社国产Voices and 麻豆社国产Now was the lack of accountability.
“I think in a liberal democracy like Canada, people shouldn’t be allowed to be anonymous when their goal is to manipulate,” said Elliott.
“You need to have broad shoulders when you’re a politician, [but] I think the part that doesn’t sit right with me is that I couldn’t tell who was funding it.”
The federal government needs to improve social media transparency laws, she said. The province also needs to empower Elections BC to have the means to act quickly when manipulation is happening.
From courtroom to council chambers
Race also had a chance to reflect on his long local government career.
A lawyer by trade, he recalled that though he was heavily involved in the community via charitable or nonprofit initiatives, he had not always considered a run for office.
However, one issue that piqued his interest was the future of the oceanfront lands. It was around the 2000s, and employers had been pulling out of the town.
Race said that around that time, there were two visions for the land. One, espoused by GBA Logging, promoted turning the area into a woodchip facility.
“The town started opposing that. And I got drawn into that,” Race said. Ultimately, that proposal was defeated.
The other, proposed by Qualex-Landmark, was the complete opposite, offering to blanket the area in residential units.
“That sort of led me to think we were going to become a bedroom community,” said Race. “And that never really fit my vision of the town, and so I was opposed to the Qualex thing."
Race then took out an ad in The 麻豆社国产 that displayed hundreds of signatures from people who signed a petition expressing their disagreement with the proposal.
Qualex eventually backed off.
When 2008 rolled in, Race was set to be the campaign manager for Greg Gardner, who successfully ran for mayor. At that time, Gardner encouraged Race to give politics a try, and he did. He ran for office and was elected as a councillor.
Race laughed at the recollection, saying that shortly before, he’d retired from law and had told a journalist that he had no interest in politics.
“I can remember sitting in my office and going to an interview with a reporter from The Chief,” he said. “And she said, ‘Well, what are you going to do when you retire?’ And I said, ‘I really don’t know.’ And she said, ‘Well, have you ever thought of running for council?’ And I said, ‘Oh, no, I’d never do that.’”
Looking back on it all, Race said there’s perhaps one thing he’d change.
“My only regret, I guess, is that I didn’t start [in politics] earlier in life,” he said. “It is a very worthwhile thing, I think, to take part in, in the creation and management of your community.”
