It was the first chance to hear from almost all the candidates running for Delta council, but their time to speak was limited.
The Delta Residents’ Association hosted a municipal election forum at the North Delta Evangelical Church Saturday morning, giving both the mayoralty and council hopefuls a chance to impress an audience of roughly 150 in attendance. And while other meetings are scheduled for the mayoralty hopefuls, Saturday’s gathering could very well be the only forum for the councillor candidates unless another group decides to hold a meeting for them.
The number of speakers could have been even bigger but not all the candidates were in attendance Saturday.
The meeting was broken into three segments with the mayoralty challengers having a brief chance to introduce themselves and each answering the same six questions posed. Next, one group of council candidates went on stage for brief introductions but answered just one random question, followed by a final group.
Jim Cessford, a former police chief, talked about working with developers to create insentives for rental and co-op housing
When the mayoralty candidates were asked whether they supported the proposed bridge to replace the George Massey Tunnel, Jim Cessford answered he supported the tunnel replacement, especially from a public safety and emergency responder perspective, while George Harvie complained, “We need a bridge and we need this fixed now.” Alex Megalos, noting Delta is sitting on a layer of clay, said he favoured expanding the existing tunnel.
Moneca Kolvyn conveyed concerns and Sylvia Bishop, saying she doesn’t want “an LA-style” highway network, said she’s in support of the bridge because that's what the people have indicated they need.
On the subject of the contentious 75A Avenue high-rise plan, Bishop noted no application has come before council, but she is in favour of creating more housing choice for young people.
“I don’t know how I would vote on this yet until I see the application and get to hear from the people,” she explained.
Megalos answered that high-rises seem best suited for certain areas of North Delta, while Harvie, also pointing to a lack of choice for seniors and young families, explained Scott Road needs revitalization and is best suited for more high density. Cessford complained “the rules seem to have changed” and that, while he's not necessary opposed to high-rises, the community needs to be better consulted. Kolvyn said transportation needs to first be fixed before such projects can be allowed.
Sylvia Bishop said times have changed and the former Delta Housing Task Force findings need revisiting
Asked about their views on the proposed Terminal 2 expansion at Roberts Bank, Cessford said he’s opposed. Harvie said the current infrastructure first needs to be upgraded. Megalos said he’s opposed, while Bishop said she’d fight for mitigation, and Kolvyn warned “it’s all about big money” with no benefit for Delta having a facility that will be mostly automated.
Some of the other questions included what to do about the smell from industrial composting operations. Cessford said the contentious Enviro-Smart facility in East Ladner needs to be moved and that it’s time to stop complaining about Metro Vancouver.
“It’s not about pointing fingers, it’s about getting the job done and I’m quite tired of all the finger pointing, quite frankly,” Cessford said. Harvie said the goal is to have the facility fully enclosed and that $25 million to do it is already on the table. Bishop disagreed with Megalos that council hasn’t done enough, adding what’s needed to start solving the problem is a cap on the volume of material coming to Delta and for the construction of a regional facility somewhere.
Asked whether they supported the retroactive part of the “golden handshake” payouts council voted themselves last year, none of the candidates said yes, while Harvie chimed he would introduce a bylaw amendment to change it. Several audience members began to argue with Harvie whether he supported the payouts at all, prompting him to respond he wasn’t the one who came up with it.
Next up was the first group of councillors.
Asked about improving transit, Alicia Guichon said she’d wholeheartedly fight for more options.
In his opening remarks Mike Smith, a union leader, was critical of the performance of council
Robert Campbell said “it’s a wonderful idea” when asked about creating more fee-simple development, but the people need to present the city with more such initiatives. Bruce McDonald was asked if he supported more community organizations getting more grants and he said he did, noting many groups are “stressed.”
Mike Smith when asked about preserving old growth trees noted he lives at the watershed and he “absolutely” supported bylaws to preserve as much of the Delta canopy as possible.
Asked about stimulating employment, Dan Copeland answered one way is to have a new crossing. Simran Walia was asked what are the top issues to be addressed and how, drawing a reply that better collaboration and synergies are required.
Asked what she’d do to support the natural environment, Lori Mayhew talked about strengthening the tree bylaw and having cleaner water initiatives, including salmon-bearing creeks.
Param Grewal talks about the top needs for seniors in Delta
Param Grewal said housing and transit are the top issues when asked about seniors’ needs, while Jeannie Kanakos mentioned an expert when asked about maintaining clean ground water.
The final group started with Craig DeCraene asked about his volunteer record in Delta, prompting laughter and a few in the audience to say it wasn’t a fair question because he had just said he was only a Delta resident for three years.
Asked about what creative ideas he’d bring, Cal Traversy said utilizing volunteers is important because they’re the backbone of the community.
Darcy Green answered a question on the controversial high-rise application in North Delta
Kim Kendall said she may be open to the idea when asked if she was in favour of widening 72nd Avenue by removing the designation of bus-only for two of the lanes, while Dylan Kruger, when asked about bus service, said he’s lived the experience and understands the gaps.
Asked about the latest North Delta high-rise proposal, Darcy Green noted a strategic vision for Scott Road and consultation with residents are required. Chen Du said he was opposed to Terminal 2 when asked, while Sandeep Pandher said Delta needs better collaborative efforts with other levels of governments when asked about his ideas to support affordable housing.
Lois Jackson said Metro and the province have a role in the dealing with the compost facility issue
On the composting issue, Lois Jackson described the situation as “very fragmented, a mess” due to the lack of legislation by Metro.
Asked about what he thinks are the appropriate size of houses, Garry Shearer answered he has no specific size limit in mind but homes should have no detrimental impact on surrounding neighbourhoods.
The election takes place Oct. 20.
